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the apartments. How to gain admittance was the question, and
I began to contrive many ways; but while I was bufied in this
kind of fpeculation, a genteel footman came up to me, and let
me know, his lady fent him to inform me I might walk in and
look at the house, if I pleafed. So in I went, and paffed thro'
feveral grand rooms, all finely furnished, and filled with paint-
ings of great price. In one of thofe chambers the fervant left
me, and told me, he would wait upon me again in a little time.
This furprized me, and my aftonishment was doubled, when I
had remained alone for almost an hour. No footman returned:
nor could I hear the found of any fect. But I was charmingly
entertained all the while. In the apartment I was left in, were
two figures, dreffed like a fhepherd and fhephe.defs, which
amazed me very much. They fat on a rich couch, in a gay alcove,
and both played on a German flute. They moved their heads, their
arms, their eyes, their fingers, and feemed to look with a conscious-
nefs at each other, while they breathed, at my entring the room,
that fine piece of mufic, the masquerade minuet; and after-
wards, feveral excellent pieces. I thought
I thought at first, they were
living creatures; but on examination, finding they were only
wood, my admiration increafed, and became exceeding great,
when I faw, by fhutting their mouth, and ftopping their fingers,
that the mufic did not proceed from an organ within the figures.
It was an extraordinary piece of clock-work, invented and made,
by one John Nixon, a poor man.

At length, however, a door was opened, and a lady entred, who was vaftly pretty, and richly dreft beyond what I had ever feen. She had diamonds enough for a queen. I was amazed at the fight of her, and wondered ftill more, when, after being honoured with a low courtesy, on my bowing to her, the asked me in Irish, how I did, and how long I had been in England. My furprize was fo great I could not fpeak, and upon this, the faid, in the fame language, I fee, Sir, you have no remembrance of me. You cannot recollect the leaft idea of me. You have quite forgot young Imoinda, of the county of Gallway in Ireland; who was your partner in country-dances, when you paffed the Chriftmas of the year 17, at her father's houfe. What (I said)' Miss Wolf of Balinefkay? O my Imoinda! And fnatching her to my arms, I almost ftifled her with kifles. I was fo glad to fee her again, and in the fituation fhe appeared in, that I could not help expreffing my joys in that tumultuous manner, and hoped The would excute her Valentine, as I then remembred I had had that honour when we were both very young,

This lady, who was good humour itfelf in flesh and blood, was fo far from being angry at this ftrange flight of mine, that The only laughed exceffively at the oidnefs of the thing; but fome ladies who came into the apartment with her feemed

frightened,

1

frightened, and at a lofs what to think, 'till fhe cleared up the affair to them, by letting them know who I was, and how near her father and mine lived to each other in the country of Ireland. She was indeed extremely glad to fee me, and from her heart bid me welcome to Clankford. Our meeting was a vaft furprize to both of us. She thought I had been in the Elyfian fields, as the had heard nothing of me for feveral years: and I little imagined, I fhould ever find her in England, in the rich condition she was in. She asked me by what deftiny I was brought to Yorkshire; and in return for my fhort story, gave me an account of herself at large. Till the bell rung for dinner, we fat talking together, and then went down to as elegant a one as I had ever seen. There were twelve at table, fix young ladies, all very handfome, and fix gentlemen. Good humour prefided, and in a rational delightful chearfulness, we paffed fome hours away. After coffee, we went to cards, and from thence to countrydances, as two of the footmen played well on the fiddle. The charming Imoinda was my partner, and as they all did the dances extremely well, we were as happy a little fet as ever footed it to country measure. Two weeks I paffed in this fine felicity. Then we all feparated, and went different ways. What became of Mifs Wolf after this-the extraordinary events of her life-and the ftories of the five ladies with her,-! fball relate in the fecond volume of my Memoirs of feveral Ladies of Great Britain.

On quitting Clank ford, our Author once more intended for Knaresborough, but the fates difpofed of him otherwise for the prefent; for, on the road thitherward, at the firft inn he came to, he fell in with a Mr. Wincup of Woodcefter, an old acquaintance, who joyfully carried Mr. Buncle to his vill,—a delightful place, at which our Rambler ftayed ten days, dancing, laughing, and finging away the time, with the fpirit of Comus himself and here fome little anecdotes occur, relating to several Irish geniufes,-but of this fort, our Readers have had a fufficient fpecimen, in the curious account of Jack Gallafpy and his friends, in the last month's Review.

Bidding adieu to his hofpitable friend, Wincup, once more our Hero fets out for Knaresborough; but he feems to have always encountered fomething of a repulfive quality in the avenues to that place, which abfolutely forbad his approach; for again he miffes his way, and wanders wide of the mark, for three hours together, 'till he came to a little b'ind alehoufe, in a lone filent place, called Lafco. Here, at the fign of the cat and bagpipe,

* The Author's chronology, however, if that were of any confe quence, is very little to be depended on; for it often contradicts itíelf.

he

he was recognized by Tom Claney, the mafter of this noble inn, who had known Mr. Buncle in Dublin; and here, the next day, he takes a walk into an adjoining wood, in which he lofes himself, and rambles to an enchanted caftle, which he thus defcribes :

In the centre of a circular space cut in the wood, and furrounded with a foreft that was above a hundred yards every way, an houfe inclosed in a very broad, deep mote, full of water, and the banks on the infide, all round, were fo thick planted with trees, that there was no feeing any thing of the manfion but the roof and the chimnies. Over the water was one narrow draw-bridge, lifted up, and a strong door on the garden fide of the mote. Round I walked feveral times, but no foul could I fee: not the leaft noise could I hear; nor was there a cottage any where in view. I wondered much at the whole; and if I had had my lad O Finn with me, and my pole, I would most certainly have attempted to leap the fofs, broad as it was, and if it was poffible, have known who were the occupants of this ftrange place. But as nothing could be done, nor any information be had, I returned again to the Cat and Bagpipe.'

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Returning to Clancy's, that intelligent hoft informed our Author that this gloomy recefs was the abode of a villainous, old, miferly attorney, who there detained, in durance vile, two fine young ladies, his wards; the guardianship of whom he had obtained by his hypocritical pretences to piety: that these fair captives had fortunes of 50,000 7. each; and that his defign was to force them into marriage with his two worthless nephews. Here was a fine opportunity for fuch a Don Quixote as our adventurer, to fignalize himfelf by the deliverance of thefe diftreffed damfels: which he found means to effect, by a romantic scheme, for the particulars of which we refer to the book. But, now, having got both thefe charmers into his poffeffion, the queftion was, What he fhould do with them?" Why conduct them to his delightful folitude at Orton-lodge, to be fure!-Thither they all repaired; and there they were effectually fecured from the hue-and-cry of old Cock, their late detefted guardian. Mr. B. forgets, however, to account for the ready acquiefcence of thefe two fine young creatures, virtuous, and fenfible as they were, in fuch a fcheme: they fuch tempting objects,-he fo gallant a man! What could become of the reputation of the ladies? He only fays that he lived at home, for fome time, in perfect happiness, from fuch fweet fociety; that his lovely guefts did all that was poffible to fhew their efteem and gratitude; that they were ingenious, gay and engaging, and made every minute of time delightful;' and that if he had not thought himself engaged to Mifs Spence, he 'fhould

fhould certainly have fat down in peace with thefe two young ladies, and, with them connected, have looked upon Orton-lodge as the garden of Eden.' Oh! fye, Mr. Buncle! connect yourself with two young ladies at once!-To what kind of character, then, would our fage moralift have been metamorphofed?

But our Hero, at length, wifely fled from the temptation. On the firft of July, juft as the day was breaking, he mounted his Bucephalus, and again left Orton-lodge; where his beauteous wards chose to remain for a year or two longer, till they fhould both come of age: then to re-enter the world, in perfect independence, free from all apprehenfions concerning the enraged and disappointed Lawyer Cock. He now bent his courfe towards-no where, that we can difcover. His horfe, according to cuftom, took the lead, while his rider was loft in rapturously contemplating the variety of beautiful objects which arose to his view; fo that, fays Mr. B. inftead of coming to the turning that was my road, I got into a bending valley, which ended at a range of rocky mountains.'-What say you, cour teous Reader, will you take a jaunt with him, through fome of thefe wonderous North-of England fcenes? you will find it very agreeable travelling, in your eafy chair, notwithstanding the country is fo rocky and mountainous; and when you are weary, you may ftop and take a refreshing nap. Suppose, now, the journey accomplished, and our Author's account of it penned in the following terms:

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For half an hour I travelled by the bottom of these frightful hills, and came at length to a pafs through them, but fo narrow, that the beafts had not above an inch or two to fpare on each fide. It was dark as the blackest night in this opening, and a ftream came from it, by the waters falling in feveral places from the top of the high inclofing precipices. It was as fhocking a foot-way as I had ever feen.

Finn, (I faid to my young man) as the bottom is hard, and you can only be wet a little, will you try where this pafs ends, and let me know what kind of country and inhabitants are beyond it? That I will, faid O Finn, and immediately entred the cleft or crevice between the mountains. A couple of hours I allowed my adventurer to explore this dark way; but if in that time he could make nothing of it, then his orders were to return: but there was no fign of him at the end of fix hours, and I began to fear he had got into fome pound. After him then I went, about one o'clock, and for near half a mile, the narrow way was directly forward, a rough bottom, and ancle deep in water; but it ended in a fine flowery green of about twenty acres, furrounded with fteep rocky hills it was impoffible to afcend. Walking up to the precipice before me, I found many caverns in it, which extended on either hand, and onwards,

into a vast variety of caves; fome of them having high arched openings for entrance, and others only holes to creep in at ; but all of them spacious within, and high enough for the tallest man to walk in.

In thefe difinal chambers I apprehended my fellow had loft himself, and therefore went into them as far as I could venture, that is, without lofing fight of the day, and cried out, Finn! Finn! but could hear no found in return. This was a great trouble to me, and I knew not what to do. Back however I muft go to my horfes, and after I had fpent two hours in fearching, shouting, and expecting my lad's return, by fome means or other, I was juft going to walk towards the crevice, or dark narrow pass I had come through to this place, when cafting my eyes once more towards the caverns in the mountains, I faw my boy come out, leaping and finging for joy. He told me, he never expected to fee the day-light more: for after he had fool, ishly gone too far into the caves, till he was quite in the dark, in hopes of finding a paffage through the mountain to fome open country, he was obliged to wander from chamber to chamber, he knew not where, for many hours, without one ray of light, and with very little expectation of deliverance; that he did nothing but cry and roar, and was hardly able to ftand on his legs any longer, when by a chance turn into a cave, he faw fome light again, and then foon found his way out. Poor fellow ! he was in a fad condition, and very wonderful was his escape.

After this, we made what hafte we could to our horfes, which we had left feeding in the vale, and Fnn brought me fome cold provifions from his wallet for my dinner. I dined with great pleasure, on account of the recovery of my lad, and when we had both recruited and refted fufficiently, on we went again. We found the valley winded about the mountains for three miles, and then ended at the highest hill I had ever seen, but which it was poffible to afcend. With great difficulty we and our horfes got to the top of it, and down on the other fide, Six mountains of the fame height, whofe tops were above the clouds, we had to crofs, and then arrived at a bottom, which formed a moft delightful fcene.

The Vale of Kefwick, and Lake of Derwentwater, in Cumberland, he adds, are thought by thofe who have been there, to be the finest point of view in England, and extremely beautiful they are, far more fo than the Rev. Dr. Dalton has been able to make them appear in his Defcriptive Poem; (addressed to two ladies, at their return from viewing the coal-mines, near Whitehaven, that is, the late excellent Lord Londdale's charming daughters ;) or than the Doctor's brother, Mr. Dalton, has painted them in his fine drawings; and yet they are inferior in charms to the vale, the lake, the brooks, the faded fides of the furrounding mountains,

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