254 HUMOUROUS ODE. If WILLIAM and MARY are suffered to twine "If Roman nosed BILLY strikes up his drum Yet Mister NASSAU May dread the whole force of an action at law; Prerogative's vengeance shall teach him to twine His emblems of union round LIBERTY's shrine!" Bishop BURNET got up, to his liturgy true, And vow'd with KING WILLIAM he'd cheerfully join : In peace, though he fights, Will redress our sad wrongs with a good BILL of RIGHTS: With the laurel the olive and myrtle he'll twine "Then Jefferies be silent, for faith you had need, His Majesty's nose Truly Roman; his creed tho' is tout autre chose, As you'll find when he glorionsly comes to entwine The emblems of union with LIBERTY's shrine! HUMOUROUS ODE. "One fifth of NOVEMBER a Gunpowder Plot Went off e're its sting it had pow'r to display, Our fifth of NOVEMBER will ne'er be forgot, When FREEDOM her ensign unfurl'd in Torbay, 'Nolumus mutari Our laws shall ne'er vary,' Cried Britons, when welcoming WILLIAM and MARY, Who landed the olive and myrtle to twine With emblems of union round LIBERTY's shrine ! "Then ne'er may the fruit of that landing be lost, As when WILLIAM and MARY ascended the throne. And its virtues ensure That union which only these realms can secure; I am, My dear young Friend, 255 Yours, &c. * See an ingenious Work by Thomas Dibdin, Esq., entitled A Metrical History of England, or Recollections iu Rhyme of some of the most prominent features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Cæsar to the commencement of the Regency, 1812. In two octavo volumes. LETTER IX. HAMPTON; PLEASANT SITUATION; BOXING MATCHES AT MOULSEY; HAMPTON HOUSE; DAVID GARRICK, ESQ, HIS HISTORY, DEATH AND EPITAPH; HAMPTON GREEN; SIR CHRISTOFHER WREN; HAMPTON WICK; TIMOTHY BENNETT, THE SHOEMAKER; KINGSTON; ITS POPULATION, CHURCH AND MONUMENTS; CHERTSEY; ITS CHURCH AND BRIDGE; COWLEY; HIS LIFE, DEATH AND WRITINGS; THOMAS DAY, ESQ., SINGULAR CHARACTER; COWEY STAKES; ST ANN'S HILL; CHARLES FOX; HIS HISTORY AND DEATH; HIS SUPERLATIVE TALENTS AND PATRIOTISM; STAINES; SITUATION AND EXTENT; ITS CHURCH AND UNBURIED COFFINS; EGHAM, DENHAM; HIS COOPER'S HILL; JUDGE DODDRIDGE; EGHAM RACES, WITH HISTORIC ANECDOTES; THE HORSE DESCRIBED BY BUFFON, AND THE WAR-HORSE IN JOB, BY DR. YOUNG; RUNNYMEDE; HISTORY AND CONTENTS OF MAGNA CHARTA; YEW TREE; MAGNA CHARTA ISLAND; AKENSIDE'S COLUMN AND INSCRIPTION; BARONS DESCRIBED; CAVE AT KYEGATE; NORFOLK WINDOW; CONCLUSION. Islington, July, 1810. MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, HAVING satiated our curiosity in the inspection of the Palace at Hampton Court, we withdrew to the adjoining inn, where we dined in a pleasant and social Fish, just caught in the Thames, made part of our repast; their freshness and delicacy yielded manner. the palate an epicurean gratification. Our chaises, however, were soon ordered to be ready; we entered our vehicles, and driving forward with an accelerated briskness, reached WINDSOR at six o'clock on a fine summer evening. The various objects which attracted our attention during this last stage of our journey, must be enumerated and described. They administered to our entertainment. The village of Hampton, close to the palace, is decorated with a good church, and consists of a group of houses, chiefly the residence of persons in humble life. It is frequented in the summer season for my old friend WALTON'S pleasant recreation of angling in the Thames. Here is a ferry over the Thames to West and a bridge to East Moulsey. These places are famous, or rather infamous, for BOXING MATCHES, a barbarous practice suited only to the middle ages, and therefore a disgrace to the community. Here, on such occasions, resort hundreds of the little great and the profane vulgar to escape the vigilance of the magistrate, and perpetuate with the greater impunity their outrages on humanity. Of the ridiculous spirit which pervades the combatants on these occasions, take the following specimen, dated May, 1817: "Thomas Oliver begs leave to inform his friends and the public, that he regrets the disappointment of his combat with Painter, not only as regards himself, but that the AMATEURS should be disappointed. Oliver having been taken by the authority of a war rant, he is held in sureties to keep the peace. In justice to himself, and regard for his friends, he begs leave to state that he is in good training, and is ready to depart either for Calais or WATERLOO, the field of English glory!!!" The HAMPTON HOUSE, in this vicinity, once the residence of the celebrated David Garrick, Esq. must not be passed over in silence. He purchased it in 1754, and made considerable improvements under his own direction. Paintings, by Zoffany, representing Garrick and other performers, decorate the apartments. It is now the residence of the Widow. house is divided from the Thames by a public road, beneath which is worked a path conducting to a fine lawn, on the margin of the river. Here GARRICK erected a temple in honour of Shakespeare. It is an octangular building, with an interior, having a statue of the great Bard, by Roubilliac. The whole is a beautiful object from the river. Dr. Johnson once visited Hampton House, and Garrick asking him how he liked the spot, the stern moralist replied, "Ah! David, it is the leaving of such places that makes a death-bed terrible!" Johnson and Garrick were both residents of Litchfield, and started for the metropolis together with the view of making their fortune. The Lexicographer urged on his way slowly, whilst the Actor soon burst into meridian splendour. Garrick, after having performed only for a short time in the country, made his appearance with astonishing eclat, October 19, 1741, at Goodman's Fields. The cha |