Hence, if it please you, down the vale,
DULWICH shall tell a pleasant tale
Of Pictures and of groves of shade,
By painters and by Nature made.*
If, still aberrant, you will stray,
To HITHER GREEN without delay;
Let health's brisk breezes round you blow,
While you command the vale below.
Or wander to that RUSHY-GREEN,
Where diving Dabchicks+ oft are seen.
Now pass the Ravensbourne again,
And quit the haunts of busy men,

For scenes where dwells the woodland sprite,
And FOREST and CANAL unite;

The WARBLERS here will charm your sense
With Nature's wildest eloquence.

Though rarely do such works of art,
Canals, the picturesque impart,

Yet here both Art and Nature meet,
To lay it, LADY! at your feet.f

* The_Dulwich Picture Gallery, the munificent gift of Sir Francis Bourgeois, affords an agreeable lounge for those who have any taste for paintings. It is greatly to be regretted, that a singular regulation precludes some of its usefulness; this regulation consists in compelling every one, desirous of viewing it, to obtain a ticket (gratis it is true,) in London. No one applying without such a ticket at Dulwich is admitted.

+ Colymbus minor, or DIDAPPER; a considerable number of these birds may be always seen in a pond, or on its bank at Rushy-green.

This Canal unites with the Thames, near Deptford. By a multiplicity of locks, it reaches a considerable elevation

But other wanderings you shall find,
Of various power to stir the mind.

Of PENGE, the embowering wood explore,-
Of pleasure there an ample store;

Scenes which the artist, charm'd, shall trace,
And on his canvass lay with grace:

There pensive, tranquil thought might dwell;
There, too, might hermit choose his cell;
And there, the lords of the domain,
The WARBLERS, hold triumphant reign.
Obedient now to Pleasure's wand,
Let BECKENHAM your steps command:
The region, if not classic, such
You scarcely can admire too much.
Behold its churchyard picturesque,

With gates that trench on the grotesque ;
Then pass through grove and sombre glade,
For poet's haunt in autumn made.

The whirring PHEASANT here may too,

At eve or morning startle you,

As from the wood, with sudden spring,
She flies on heavy, labouring wing.

When at Forest-hill it winds between woods; and thence, passing on through Sydenham, it again winds through Penge-wood to Croydon. For several miles, while on the elevation, there are no locks; hence, from its sinuous course, it adds considerably to the very beautiful scenery through which it passes.

Here ROBINSON,* from toils of state
Opinions' conflict, keen debate,
Retires to soothe, relax his mind,
Woo Nature-to us ever kind.

If now to BROMLEY you extend,
New scenes, new subjects will befriend;
Nor shall the Villa, taste of LONG,†
Be absent from my rural song.
Still farther would you, LADY, rove,
Delight attends in many a grove.

*The Right Honourable FREDERICK Robinson, now Lord GODERICH, who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a luminous and eloquent SPEECH, on the opening of the BUDGET to Parliament, March 13, 1826, promulgated some of the most liberal and important opinions that were ever uttered by any states

inan.

It is scarcely possible to estimate the effect of such sentiments on the well being and happiness of the human race, to the furtherance of which they so eminently tend, when so extensively diffused, as they necessarily must be, in reports of our parliamentary proceedings; but we may be morally assured that such sentiments will never be forgotten; and that the time has indeed arrived when the minds of our enlightened statesmen are in accordance with the opinions of an enlightened people; and that, among those, while the names of a CANNING, á PEEL, and a HUSKISSON, will be prominent, the name of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. ROBINSON, will never be mentioned without respect and esteem.

The Right Honourable Sir CHARLES LONG, Bart.; since this was written, created Lord FARNBOROUGH.

Proceed to HAYES, where CHATHAM* dwelt;
Some recollections may be felt,~

How, in the senate, many shook
Beneath his all-commanding look:
How here, the social hearth beside,
He sank the statesman and his pride;
And, pillow'd on affection's breast,
He solace sought, and found the best:
For what is Splendour, what is Fame,
To HOME and HAPPINESS?-a name!
While here, let no pretence delay,
But listen to the woodland fay;
Or with the mountain-nymph ascend,
Who will with glee your steps attend.

WILLIAM PITT, Earl of CHATHAM, the first of that name, and the incidents in whose life are inseparably woven with the history of this country. Hayes was his favourite residence, where he died; and where also his son WILLIAM, mentioned in a subsequent note, was born. This village affords a quiet and umbrageous retreat. Among many fine trees here, some Lombardy poplars (Populus dilata), near the mansion, where once presided the penates of that respected nobleman, are peculiarly interesting by their great height and beauty, they being well clothed with ivy. Fashion has latterly fixed a stigma upon this tree (the Lombardy poplar,) which it does not deserve. It is now become, it is true, extremely common, but it is nevertheless, very ornamental, and as little injurious by its foliage as its shade; indeed, much less so than most other trees. This residence of Lord Chatham is now occupied by Mrs. Dehaney.

botanize,

Should taste now bid you
The upland wilds fail not to prize:*
Here Sphagnum+ lifts her humble head,
And Droserat will her dewdrops shed;
While Heaths, of roseate hue, will smile,
And thus your wandering way beguile.
Or should your steps refuse the waste,
With Edens near the scene is grac'd,
And cots embower'd, while soaring high
Their smoke, slow curling, stains the sky;§
Where Peace, beside the hearth of HOME,
Spurns with disdain the lordly dome.
Or like you length and breadth of view
O'er scenery rich, of varied hue,
Ascending still, at HOLWOOD PARK,
Look round, and many objects mark;
'Mongst which the QUEEN of cities stands,||
A cynosure to distant lands.

* The spot called Hayes Common deserves a more dignified name: it is at once a wild and an upland, not to say mountainous district; and the numerous villas around add an interest to it of no ordinary kind.

+ Sphagnum palustre, or BOG-Moss, a curious and useful plant for packing other plants. See Mr. SALISBURY's account of it in the Transactions of the Society of Arts.

Drosera rotundifolia, or SUNDEW.

"Above whose peaceful umbrage, trailing high,

A little smoke went up, and stain'd the cloudless sky."

BowLES's Hope.

London.