ornia ilHliil' M E' M O I R S O F T H E Vlarchionefs De Lou vol In LETTERS, By a LADY. IN THREE VOLUMES. V Oh, ~ h LONDON, r ?c! for R o B s o Nj^, New Bond-Street j Walter* ^aring-Crofsj and "Robinson, Patcrnofter-row, MDCCLXXVII. TO THE COUNTESS of M A D A ]\I, COULD I but faintly paint the high idea 1 entertain of your virtues, I flioiild attempt it. But as you have Uo mnck undedlanding to fuffcr what, I have too little to under- take, I hope the world will excufc my deficiency, and you Vv ill pardon my prefumption. I Ihali only obferve, that you have proved by your condud the pofTibi- lity of uniting the duties of a court A 2 .Lady, iv DEDICATION. Lady, with thofe duties which are undoubtedly of greater im- portance, without betraying any in- confiftency in your condud. Like the judicious ancients, who made the God of wifdom and poetry the lame, you judge chearfulnefs and elegance infeparable from true phi- lofophy ; and that wifdom and tafte,. fpringing from the fame common parents, truth and nature, can never fo profper and flourifli, as when, ad- vancing hand in hand, they mu- tually fupport each other. The approbation with which your Ladyfhip honoured a foraier work of mine, encourages mc to prefent this DEDICATION. v this to you, as I know you think this fpecies of writing may be car- ried to a high pitch of ufefulnefs, I believe very few duly exert all their phyiical and moral ftrength, but find many void fpaces within the circle of their lives, and others fill- ed with what they difapprove, or with trifles of no ufe. The love and pradlice of virtue, and a tafte for the ftudy of the fciences,are prin- cipally recommended in the follow- ing pages ; do not fuch impart to Mm, who is poffeffed of them, a happi- ncfs independent of accident, and the malignity or caprice of men ? 1 do not produce my fentiments as uncommon. vi DEDICATION. uncommon, but only as ufeful and reafonable: nor do I dogmatize; my folly is abiblutely perfonal : thus as a little Laird, in the High- lands of Scotland, after he had dined, allowed all the fovereigns in the univerfe to dine in their turn : contented with my refledions, fuch as they are^ I leave the reft of the world to ad^ as they pleafe. - Asa woman feldom writes with- out hazarding a great deal for want of information, the fuccefs of this performarice is uncertain ; I there- fore will not borrow the luftre it might receive from your name be- ing affixed to it, or from the favour- able DEDICATION. vn able impreffions which might be formed of my own charader, from the intimacy you have honoured me with for twelve years paft. I re- main, dear Madam, with unfeigned regard, and the fincereft attach- ment, your Ladyfhip's obliged, and afFedionate friend. The AUTHOR. T K E Marchioneis De Louvk L E T T E R I. From the Countefs of Daxvers, to the Duchefs of Su'P.Ry. Sept. :, !:-;. DEAP. MADAM, IH O P E this will fiticl yovir Grace, the Duke, and all your family in perfed: health : I was exceedingly con- cerned the indifpofition of my Eord pre- vented mc from m*iking any longer ilay in London, and can afuire jquf Qrace, Vol, L B ' ihar 2 LETTER!. that no other circumftance could have prevailed on me to leave town the day on which you -were to arrive from the country. I longed to embrace you, after an abl'ence of fifteen years, to fee all your family, and to introduce mine to you. If my Lord's health is not bet- ter from our jaunt, my girls have had at lead the advantage of a fuperior educa- tion than they could have received at home, which is fome compenfation for having been fo long abfcnt from our friends. We brouo-ht with us a vouner lady from Tours, one of the molt ami- able, mod: accomplifhed, and beautiful creatures I ever favv. Acres was the va- lorous knight, who refcued her from n very imminent danger; and afterw^ards placed her in a co^'vent, which I. pre- vaikd on her to quit. My brother, Ge- neral Spencer, is the molt altered man I ever LETTER 1. 5 1 ever faw ; a fecret grief feems to prey upon his fpirits — But there is no know- ing what is the occaiion of it. Your Grace may believe, I was very much mortified at my iifter's marriage. — You know ihe had beauty enough, v/hcn young, to have excufed her vv^nt of com- mon-fenfe ; but fhe fcorned the preca- rious triumph of her charms, and would only conquer by the beauties of her mind. An union of hearts, a delicacy of fentiment, and a Pxiental adoration, were what ihe long fought for, and never found. Thus nature flruggled with fen- timent, till Ihe w^as fifty, but then got the better of it to fuch a degree, that Ihe fell in love v/ith an Irifb enfign cf eighteen, and m.arried him : he lived long enough to fquander her patrimon;. , by plunging into all manner cf debauch- •B a cries ; 4 LETTER I. erics ; and then died, leaving her penny- lei's. She is now I find a devotee, and lives with my brorher the General: and as he has proir/ifed to accompany my young people to town in November, Ihe will alio be of tlie party. Your Grace may readily imagine, 1 cannot place much confidence in a wo- man who has rendered herfelf equally ridiculous in age as in youth ; but the General's great tendcrnefs for her, toge- ther with the admirable good fenle oi my two eldclt girls, will, I think, coun- t'.ract any confequence of her abfurdi- tics with the youngelL I hope your Grace will extend the friendfhip you honoured the mother with to her dau2:h- icrs ; and ihtit as my Lord's bad health j:revcn[s my coming to town, that you v.'nl countenance thefe dear children. Yoi; LETTER I. 5 You will find them not unamiahle^ and highly acconrpllfJjed, Their father, ever indulgent, vvifhes them to poiTefs every advantage in their introduction into life, which our very lars^e fortune fo v/ell intltle them to. Shall I flatter myfelf with your Grace's protections and of your countenancing themr They are to refide in our houfe in Berkley-fquare, My Lord defires his beft refpedts to your Grace, and joins with me in the fame to the Duice, and befl comple- ments to all your family. I am ever, your Grace^s affectionate friend, and obliged humble fervant, WlHELMINA DaNVERS. B 5 LET- ( 6 ) LETTER Ii; f rom Mademoifclle le Reillet, to the- Abbe Francville, at Avignon. DEAR SIR, • A F TE R a mofl agreeable journey, I arrived with my benefadtrefs and family at an ancient feat of her Lord's in Cambridgefhire. You inquire of me my adventures ; it is, indeed, too true,, I have had fome very extraordinary ones ! But do you imagine, my good friend, that I am like Don Quixote, :.nd that every thing is to turn to an ad» venture at my approach^? I am very well, and have been perfecflly happy ; chcrilhed, and eileemed. by one of the iiioll amiable families, in the world,. whofe felicity is only obfcurcd by the ' b;;bd L E T T E R IT. 7 Bad health of its mailer, who, patient under his liifferings, never repines at the difpenfations of Providence, but looks around him delighted with his family, acknowledging- thofe mercies, thofe be- nefits he pofTeffes. His amiable Count- efs, is one of the beft of wom.en ; diQ lives but in her Lord, and devotes her whole time in promoting his eafe, and in alleviating his diftrefs. My Lord's eflate is very coniiderable, and no peo- ple ever fucceeded better than him and. his amiable conforr, in making the bleff- hig of riches an honour to them. A prudent oeconomv, equally diftant from a fordif' :ivarice and a fatal prodi- gality, regu ^ 23 this family. Lady Sufan, their eldeft daughter, has no affectation in her ; could fupport a^y chara^er^ but alTumes none ; never mifled by fancy or vanity, is guided B 4: fmgly 8 LETT E R IjV fingly bv Tcnfon ; whatever ihc lays (;r does, is the manifell refult of a happy nature, and a good underftanding : her perfon is truly lovely. Lady Juliana, the fecond of the young ladies, in her air, fpeech, and motion, has a winning elegance that is irrefiftible, and through all her difcourfe there is a foft compofure. Her perfon is llender, and formed with fymmetry ; a delicac}' mingled with languor is her chief charadtcriiiic. Lady Fanny, the youngeft of the ladies, is not near fo handfome as her i-ifters, but is poiiefled of an arch viva- city and a turn for raillery, which alarms- as much as it amujes her friends. She has a talent of placing the moft ferious matters in a ridiculous view, and can- carry her point at any time with people, by r. E T T E R IT. 9 by entertaining and putting them into a good humour. General Spencer^ a'^brother of my la- dy's, met us at London : her ladyfhip feemed much afFedied at feeing him; fhe fays he is much altered from what he- was formerly. His appearance has- fomething in it that commands venera- tion^ love, and refped:. Old age, in him, is neither morofe, difagreeable^ nor magiilerial. Without condefcend- ing to a juvenile character, he accom- modates himfelf to all forts of tempers t if he does not flutter with the 2,av in- lipid coxcomb, vet he preferves the dig- nity and refpecl his age infpires ; at kaft he is no troublefome cenfurer, nor finds fault with the pleafures of others,. although abforbed apparently himfelf ia a deep melancholy- The 10 LETTER IT. The employments he has had in tHs' court and army, and the fciences he , has fludioufly cultivated, furnifh him-- with a thoufand curious anecdotes^ which render his converfation as plea- fant as inilruftive. People always depart pleafed with his company, charmed with his politenefs, and inftrudted in many facts of which he was witnefs,. and which he freely communicates without pride or entreaty.- Nature when flie made man fufcep- tible of misfortunes, made him fufcep- tible of pity alfo. — I felt — yet knew not why — was follicitous to offer him com- fort, yet knew not how to attempt it.. Lord Acres, and his noble condud: to me, you are already acquainted with :. he is at prefent at Bath. My Lord had two children by a lady to whom ■ he was attached before mar-^ riage. LETTER II. it riage. The fon is in the army, and the daughter married to a Scotch ba- ronet. My lady aded the fame part to- theni fhe afterwards did to her own children. i fliouid condole with you mod fin- ccrely on the death of your friend ; but all good offices are not to be done to all kinds of perfons : it would be an af- front to rehgion, and a doubting the profeiiion you make of it, to treat you like vulgar men. We read, that Seneca com- forted people under afQidion,, but never that any one undertook to comfort him'* How much more powerful is the Chrif- tianity }ou profefs, to regulate the mind under any temporal lofs ! I beg you will give my beft wiihes to my faithful Dupree ;, and believe me, good 12 LETTER. IL good father, with the greateft gratitude and rcfpcd, Your obliged, humble fcrvant, Annette le Reillet. LETTER in. From General Spencer, to the Earl of Danvers. London. MY DEAR LORD, T V I refifled your importunity, when you were defirous ot knowing the caufc of my fecret griefs, it w^as becaufe I wiflicd not to give you uneafinefs not that I miftrulted your generolity and friep.dfnip. I was willing to fpare your fcnfible mind, from a tale replete with honor, in which your un- fortunate friend was the principal agent. | But LETTER IIL 15 But if you fhould dill w^fli to be inform- ed of this affair, your deiires are to me commands, and fliall be complied with, •though not without infinite pain to myfelf, Wc arrived here all in good health and fplrits, except Juliana, whofe fenli- bility will, I am perfuaded, never per- mit her to be entirely happy. She ismifer- able in the thoughts of having left your Lordfhip, and thinks, by having done {Oy ilie has failed both in duty and affeClion to you. How few minds are confonant to hers ; I pray heaven, fhe m.ay be more fortunate than fuch a difpofition com- -monly is ! She is indeed a mere flave. The lively Fanny did nothing but^ laugh during our whole journey, which ^le was fo impatient to get to the end of;, that fhe calculated oar time like the driver of a (lagc-coach^ allowing half an 14 LETTER HI. an hour at one place, and twenty mi- nutes at another. A fit of devotion feizing my good fif- ^cr at iliewentto church; Sufan and Juliana attended her, while their giddy fifter remained with me. She's a pious foul, faid Fanny, who places the fum of her religion in perpetually fre- quenting ledlures and fermiOns, and dreams that conftantly going to fchool, and learning her duty, is exadly the fame as practifing it. I could not help being of miy young friend's opinion, though I faid nothins;. There is a re- markable paillage in Plato's Second Al- cibiades, which hath often been quoted. Socrates meeting Alcibiades, who was going to the temple to pray, proves to him that he knew not how to perform that duty aright, and that therefore it ■v.as not iafc for him to do it. On our journey LETTER III. 15 journey to town my (ill:er condemned the preacher for his ftyle and manner. Lady Sufan, upon my entreating her opinion, afked pardon for differing with her aunt; but faid, {he could not help imagining, that we Ihould find, upon enquiry, that the difcourfe they heard had b^en deli- vered by a very eminent man ; for that, as far as ihe was able to judge, exadinefs of method and juftnefs of thought, weighty arguments, judicious reflections, and unaffedied piety, adorned with the foftefl: and fvveeteil eloquence, ran thro' the vvhofe. Upon obferving my old friend Major Pvivers pafs the window, I fent for him; he acquainted me he now refides entire- ly at , where we had dined, hav- ing for fome years left the army. I told him the ladies had been at church, and .Sufan's-opinion of the preacher, deliiing i6 L E T T F R IIL to know who he was ? He replied that from the defcription it could be no other than the celebrated Dr. — , who never attempts your paffions, faid he, till he has convinced your reafon. — All the obiedlions which ycu can form are laid open and difperfed, before he ufes the Icafl vehemence in his fermon ; but - when he thinks he has your head, he very foon wins your heart, and never pretends to Ihew the beauty of holinefs, rill he has convinced you of the truth of it. He is none of thofe orators, v.hofc perpetual antithefes only touch v,V)^n the fuperficies of the fouL As he uk'S better weapons than they, fo he tln'kes deeper wounds. He leaves true compunction in the bcdrl, aYid not falfe alarivjs in the edr. My filler thought it Incumbent on her *o fupport her opinion, and infilled that his LETTER III. r; his ilyle was too laboured for a man of -God! Major Rivers faid, you mull: in- deed, Madam, have a great feverity of -temper, if you can find any thing to con- demn in adding charms to truth, and . gaining the heart by captivating the eari in uniting rofs with the thorns cf icicnce, and joining /i/^^y/^r^ with inftruciion. The morning after our arrival the Duke and Duchefs did us the honour of a viiit : I do not at all find your long abfence has weakened their attachfnent for you. Her Grace interefts herfelf much for the young ladies : we have implicitly followed her dirediions in every thing. We are already engaged fjr at leaft .a fortnight. Tiberius, the Emperor, created a new ofBce for devifing new pleafures ; Vol, I, C but i3 LETTER III. but the Englifh are ingenious enougk to fave their fovcreign that expence. Thus, my dear Lord, 1 fliall be oblig- ed to launch into the regions o^ frivolity y to flutter in the round of amufements, and to range throuears to be oppreflcd by Tedundancy. This is certainly the cafe, although the Mogul goes every year to weigh himfelf in a ballancc, like an ox, — and his fubjedls rejoice more in propoitlon as he becomes \ Ic'fs capable of governing them. Sir HuL'h Bcnfon is very corpulent in his p'.r I hoi>c, LETTER IX. 71 i hope, my dear mama, you will pre- vail on my fifter Hamilton to give me her real opinion of my opera : I am afraid fome of the prelude-bafes are too long, efpecially when repeated For you have often told me prelude-bafes are only to begin the fubjecl of the air, and do not fhow any compofition (which confiils in the union of parts;) fo that if they are not artfully worked afterv^'ards with the voice- parr, they arc no proof of &ill, but only of invention. The Duke of Surry, though a man of very fuperior abilities, thinks it better to unbend in the hours of relaxation with women, (whom he considers only as pretty toys,) than with the men, who might be apt to talk finfej when he would only hear wnfenfe* Nor is h;s Grace at all fmgular; at prefent men think it a necelTary ingredient in their F 4 difcourfe 72 LETTER IX. difcourfe to us, that it Ihould want every folid charm with which under- Handing would invefl it ; consequently any advantages that could arife from aflbciating wath them is loft to us. We were lalt nip^ht with the Duchefg at Venice Preferved : does not my dear mother think that the pallions are finely touched in it, though perhaps there is fomething: to be d(5ired both in the foundation of them, and in /fhe height and elegance of expreffion ? I will not defend every thing in this play; but nature is there, which is the great- eft beauty. My aunt Bloom Is really grown very whimfieal ; llie miftakes the moft ab- furd proftitutjon of ftrong expreftions, upon trivial fubjedts, for fublimity of thought ; and feems to think a confent of paiTion with the vulgar^ v/ould im- pair L E T T E R IX. 73 pair the dignity of her character; fhe Is therefore continually finding fault with the prefent age, and difllkes almoft every woman fhe fees, if Ihe's young or handfome. Since we came to town, fhe will not condefcend to talk like other people, and feems afraid of being un- derftood, fecking the moft bombalt words to exprefs the moft fimple things. Our fervants muilhave recourfe to inter- preters to decypher her comrnands. She is delighted with any ill-natured report. Is it not a fymptom of a de- praved heart to fufpedt the mofl indif- ferent aiy one jbould prc- fwnc 112 LETTER XIIL fume to divide with her the rights of a nio^ iher. I never fee my little girl, but I think fuch were the tender fentiments, the fweet anxieties^ that my beloved mo-» ther felt for me ; for though 5^cfu only condefcended to honour me with that name, by what means can I evince my affedtion to my own off-fpring, but by thofe you Ihewed me and my brother. The Colonel is in this part of the country recruiting : every body Is charmed with him^ and my dear Henry perfectly doats on him s he is no lefs pleafed with my hufband and my little ones. I find Sir Henry by nature is open and liberal to excefs. I mufl take care, without his being confcious of it, to be a gentle check upon his bounteous fpirit ; I mean only fo far as it regards myfelf, for in every other point his ge- nerofity is regulated by prudence, I am L E T T,E R XMI. 113 I am much obliged for the muiic yoa rfent me from Italy. You a/k my opi- ;iiion or the opera of , compof- ^-cd by Lady Sufan. In obedience to your commands I obey, though confi- dent how much I mAiil hazard in doinp^ rit. The A'mphonies in many places ifeem to me to be perplexed, and not made to purfue any fubjedt or point* The overture of . ought to be great and noble ; inilead of which I find only a hurry of infcruments, not proper (in my humble opinion,) and without any defign ; and I am afraid irregu- lar in the compofition, as far as I can conceive. The lafi air of be2;ins too chear- fully for the words. It is in D fiiarp, from which it varies (in another move- ment of time) to B flat 3d, and fo er.ds, n-i'hout returning to the fame key. Vol. I. I either 114 LETTER. XIII. either flar or fharp. This being one continued air (though in two movements of time) is it allowable ? 1 am fure it is not ufual : for though the paflage is na- tural, the clofmg in that manner is, I believe, always difallowed. I think the words in general natural- ly enough expreffed, and in fome places pathetically ; but, my dear ma- ma, have you not inftrudied me, that this is not the whole myftcry of fettinir, and that it is as poffible to exprefs words naturally and pathetically in a very faulty compofition, as it is to hit a like- nefs in a bad pidure ? If the mufic, without the words, does not prove itfelf by the rules of compofuion, which relates to the harmony and motion of different notes at the fame time, the notes in the finging parts will not fuffice, though they exprefs the words ever fo naturally. h LETTER XIII. 115 Ib not this properly the art of compofi- tion, in which there is room to lliew admirable fkill, abflracted from the words, and in which the rules for the union of founds are a kind of fyntaxis, from which no one is allowed to err.^ I am very far, however, from agreeing- with one of the French muficians/ who undertook to turn a gazette into an opera, without its being difcovered. I never was more out of conceit with mufic than at preient ; Sir Henry keeps a band at a great expence, with a view entirely to pleafe me : and they mufi furely be of a very churlifh difpofition who are not pleafed, where a manifeft delire to oblige is confpicuous in every word and adtion. I have laid it down as a rule, never to oppofe fo good, io kind a hufband, in any inftance wherc- m i do not think a fuperior duty re- I 2 quires 1X6 LETTER XIIL quires me, othciwife I ihould undoubt- edly dlfapprove of it ; as the very great expences he is entered into in fearch of a conl, which (he is flattered) IS on his eliato, confiderably leffens our income. My amiable fifter, Mifs Ha- milton, is not at prefent with me ; her engaging wit, joined to the mod pleaf- ing charms of converfation, and the po- litenefs of her manners, always equally fweet and graceful, procure her as many admirers as beholders. She will attend me to Danvers Place. I am tenderly attached to her, and therefore tremble for her fate in life: difpofcd to think favourably of every body, flie knows neither fufpicion nor diftrufi. It is by her own fincerity Ihe judges of others. What rule of judg- r.]ent can be more deceitful than this .>Ji jto judge others by the bell heart in the . world. L E T T'E R Xlil. 117 world. I was quite low for a few days after ilie left Hamilton Lodge ; but we can have but one friend to Ihare our heart, to whom we can have no refourcc, and whofe lofsis irreparable. — Such was my reparation from my dear mama, when I quitted you at Paris ; although under the protefiiion of the man I loved, what did I not fufFer ? Bidding adieu to my more than parent, who had kindly lavifhed fo much tendernefs, goodnefs^ - and attention on m.e ; and w^ho had directed my very thoughts for fifteen years. Indeed, my beloved ma- dam, mv heart overflows with ^^ratiaide, refpedl, and veneration for you ; and my fenfaticns will never be lefs lively ! ' rfelt, at the inftant i Itxt vou, as if I even could have u^crinccd mv beloved Henry himfelf rather than leaveM^ou. An agreeable acquaintance is no father I 3 necefuuy Ii8 LETTER XIII. jieceiTary to us than as it contributes tro enliven folltude, and obtains a preference to others merely by comparifon, and is a lofs eafily fupplled : but your abfence 1 mufl ever lament, and my diftance from you. My Mers have all writtea to me; in the midft of their London amufemcnts they have remembered me, which is really more than I expeded from Lady Fanny ; but I always told you, my dear mama, that her extreme gaiety and playfulnefs were not fo much to be feared as you apprehended : is it not accompanied with the tendered: and bell: heart ? I have been always very candid with Lady Sufan concerning her com- pofitions ; and as I ever made it a 'point to be perfedtly iincere with thofe dear fillers of my heart, I flatter my- lelf Ihe will continue her indulp-ence to i, inv LETTER XIII. 119 my freedom ; perhaps I have been too officious, but fhe will pardon me, fince I have been only reprefenting to her what I fuppofe may have been her own thoughts fince upon it. I am very glad your health continues fo good : you talk of twenty years back as if they were fo many months : twenty years would be a century in your life, unlefs you calculate according to the Egyptian chronology^ and reckon each new -moon for a year, 1 flatter myfelf my father and your Ladyfhip uill return with us to Scotland : we have a moft delightful feat, and I may truly fay, nothing is wanting to my happinefs (as I have already faid) but your pre- fence. I regretted much Sir Henry's apprehenfions and tendernefs for m.c, induced him not to continue our jaune with you to Italy : you were I 4 ' fo 3 20 BETTER XIIL fo kind as write me a particular ac- count of what pleafed you moil. When you favour us with your company, you will perhaps fee feme thing? alfo worthy of your obfervaticn ; I fnall only men- tion one to you, the chapel of Ro/IhTi which in feme old writs is called Rof- kelyn* : It is near Edinburgh, (i- tuated on a rifing-ground, charmingly beautified with wood, water, and rocks; the Efli gliding along the weft and fouth foot of the hill ; fome trees below ruff- ling their boughs acrofs the purling ftream ; others aloft waving their curl- ing tops in the clouds ; and the fimty rocks getting out here and there be- tween the trees, fhew their rpg2;ed forms and depending heads, and fervc to complete the delightfully variegated * A word in the Erfelang'jage, figniiying a glen, exactly defcriptive of the fuuation of the place. landfcape : LETTER XIII. 121 iandfcape : a place formed by nature for heavenly contemplation. The church -yard is fuiiounded with a eood wall of flone, on the north-fide of which you enter by a door, w-hofe pilafters and architrave are adorned with fculpture of fiovver-work. On the middle of the architrave is placed a ilone cut into an equilateral triangle, on which are carvings refembling net- work ; no doubt there have been other orn^amental flones placed on each fide oft[iis triangle, and perhaps on the top- of it, which is a little fiat, as there are fome fuch ftones, refembling pieces of lefler pillars, or fpires, lying at the foot of this entry into the church-yard. The chapel is all oX frce-ilone, and is reckoned one o{ the mofr curious pieces of old Gothic workman ^-^ip in Europe^ having on the north fide twelve turrets, or 122 LETTER XIII. or fplres ; feven lower arifing on the face of the outer wall, and five higher arlfing from the top of it, and plac- ed exadtly behind an equal number of the lower ; the other two of which are placed nigh and at the eaft end of the wall, making up the north part of the outfide of the altar. The lower and higher fpires are united by two ihort fegments of an arch, a long feg- ment palling from each higher fpire to the top of the inner wall. Upon each of thefe fpires, both lower and higher, there are feveral niches for fratues; but there are none in them at prefent. However the pcdcftals are f!:ill extant, curioufly cut out into antique and gro- tefque figures in bajfo relievo ; fuch as an old man with a beard, in a pofture as if colleding his flrength, with the head uppcrmoft ; another with the feet up- pcrmofl ; LETTER XIII. i2c^ pcrmoil; a fox carrying off a goofc, and a man pulling hard to take the prey from the fox -, a monkey or baboon, and one of them here and there hugging a puppy in its bofom ; a cat, &c. &c. There are five large arched windows below in the outer wall, with a pillar, or column, rifing in the middle of each, and waving to the top of the arch in va- rious fhapes, fome circular, others femi- circular, &c. fo that not one waving on the top of a pillar is like another. All thefe windows are finely carved even on the outfide, particularly on the arches with foliage, &c. having niches on the jambs, in which probably theue have been flatues formerly, the pcdef- tals of which are ftill remaining. There are five lelicr arched windows above, reach in 2; almoft to the top of the inner 124 LETTER XIII. inner-wall, which appear to have had a- pillar in the middle of each. On the eaft end, or altar, there ar^ five lower fpires, with niches for ftatucs, all adequate to thofe of the fame model on the north lide, v/ith four large win- dows ; a pillar raifed in the middle of each, as in the windows below in the norrh fide, but differing from thofe in the various wavlngs on the tops of the arches, ss well as from each other. The pcdeiLals on which the flatues have been placed, are all curioully wrought in fcLilpture of antique and grotefque figures in ha[fo relievo, varying from one another, and from thofe on the north fide. The fouth fide is exadily the fame v/Ith the n< rth, as to the number and proportion of fpires and windows ; in the many ornaments of which ftill the fame wild LETTER Xlir. 125 ^ -wild agreeable variety is mod carefully obferved. There are fpouts at proper • diilances for letting the rain run down from the roofs, cut into various fliancs, .as the body of a lion, the head of an old man, &c. The high roof is arched-, and v/cli .covered with flacr-ftones. — The entrv in* to this grand and facred llructurc is by two doors, one on the fouth, the other •on the north iide : no perfon can enter anto it, who has any refledlion, without rbeing flruck wich reverential awe at its auguft appearance. It is decorated with pillars which delight the eye by a va- riety of afi^dls, and which have had their invention from good perfpedlive, Tufcan, Ruilic, Doric, Ionic, Corinthi- ..an, and the compofite, or Italic. The 126 LETTER Xlli. The height of the chapel within, from the floor to the top of the high arched roof is 40 feet 8 inches. Breadth 34 feet, 8 inches. Length 68 feet. At the fouth-eaft corner you go down four fleps to a flat, having on each hand a plain fquare nich in the wall, from which flat you defcend twenty fl:eps more into a fubterraneous chapel, which has been likewife the facrifl:y and vefl:ry, whofe height cannot be fo exadlly af- certained, as the floor is very uneven with rubbifli and ftoncs. This facrifl:y is only fubterraneous at the entry, be- ing all above ground, occafioned by the fudden declivity of the ground. There is only one window in it, which is in the eafl wall, and is arched and 1-arge, but without any pillar in the middle of it. Here, no doubt, there has LETTER Xlir. 127 has been an altar, though there be no veftige of one now. On the top of the entry, which is an arch, down to the facrifty, is the high altar, 2 feet 7 inches, by two ftcps up from the fouth end of the large altar, with a beautiful font above it in the fouth wall. On the high altar upon the eafl wall is built fomething like a feat about two feet high, which, perhaps, may have been a fide altar-table. The low, or large altar is one ilep up, though perhaps more formerly, from the floor of the chapd, of 6 inches and an half. It is in breadth 1 1 feet 3 inches. Length 26 feet 10 inches and an half. The roof of the altar, compofed of four double arches, not being (o high as that of the chapel by one half, the height of it, from the floor to the tops ti2?{ L E T T E R XIII. tops of the double arches within, is 15 feet. There are feven pillars or columns on the north fide from end to end, includ- ing the pillar on the weft wall, to which is cut out in bqffo relievo, and as many on the fouth fide. There are like- wife two pillars exactly in the middle of the chapel, proceeding from the top up to the altar weftward. The height of each pillar, including ^bafe and capital, is the exadt fourth of the whole height of the chapel from the floor to the top of the high arched roof. Each range of pillars from the oppo- fite WTiU to the center of the colonade or -range, is diftant eight feet two inches.; from the centre of each of the two pil- lars in the middle, proceeding from the face of the altar weft.vard to the centre gf the pillars on each hand, north and fouth, LETTER XIII. 1:9 ibuth, nine feet two inches; diameter of the ilvaft of each pillar at the middle -point, between bafc and capital, is two feet four inches; therefore the circum- ference muit be (even feet. The three pillars on the face of the altar have oppofite to them on the cafl wall, or back of the altar, three fnulU er pillars cut in c^affb relievo ; and eacli range of pillars from eaU: to weft has on the oppofite wall an equal number of Imaller pillars, cut out in the fam^e wa)', -each large pillar being united to its fmaller oppofite- by an architrave, ex- cepting the three columns on the fore- part of the altar, which are united to their fmaller oppofites by an arch, as all the large ones are from eafl to well, ex- cept fome few which I fhall prefently take notice of. Every one of the three fmaller pillars on the back of the Vol. 1. K altar ,I30 LETTER XIII altar has a nich on each fide of its capi- tal, in which formerly a (latue has been ^placed. At the back of the altar on the eaft wall, are three rifings like feats-, each of them about two feet high., which perhaps have been fo many fide altar-tables. All the ornaments are in hajfo relieve^ or cut out of the folid flone, as not one of the ftatues that were in the niches, either within or without, are now to be feen. Each architrave is united to the op- .pofitc architrave by a broad arch, every one of which arches is carved in like manner as the roof of the facrifty.: and thefe arches, from architrave to archicrave, form the roof between the outer and the inner wall^ both on the north and fouth .fides. .Ail L E T T E R XIII. 15c All the capitals of the pillars are fine- ly cut into ilovver-vvork, foliege, or chaplets. The kcy-ftone of the double arch im- mediately above the high altar, or the entry down to the facrifty, is pendent above two feet two inches in a piece of fine foliage. In the window at the back of the back of the high altar, direcftly oppo- fite to the faid key-ftone, in the fouth- eaft corner of the chapel, on each pihU'- ter or jamb, are two cherubs. — In this and every one of the lov;er windows, there is a reprefentation of a tower on ■each jamb. As alfo on each pilafler of the lower wlndov/s there is a nich for a •llatuc, and the pedeflal, for mofl part, cut out into a cherub. The firH: and principal pillar of the whole, placed at the adjoining corner of K 2 the 1^2 LETTER XIII. the low and high altar is commonly called the apprentice's pillar ; but by Slczar, in his Theatrum Scotia, the prince's pillar. — It has on the bafe of it feveral dragons in the flronged or firll kind of bqffo relievo, as one can eafdy thrull a finger or two between feme parts of the dragons and the bafe. The dra- gons are chained by the heads, and twilled into one another. This beau- tiful pillar has round it from bafe to ca- pital, waving in the fpiral way, four wreaths of the mofi: curious fculpture of ilower-work and foliage, the workman- Ihip of each being different, and the center of each wreath diftant from that of the neighbouring one a foot and a hall. So cxquifitely fine arc thefe wreathings, that they can be compared to nothing but the fined lace. The or- naments upon the capital of this pillar, I mull LETTER Xlir. 1^5 I muft refer to an";ther place, becaufe they have a connedtion with other ad- joining parts, and I proceed 'vvi'h thofe of the lovver altar froni fouth toiirrh. The key flone of the fecond double arch above the fouth end of the larc^e al- tar, depends as the former one, in a j'iece of foliage. The window oppofite to the faid key-flone, is ornamented with cherubs, as the one ah^eady de- fcribed. The middle pillar on the fore part of the altar, has its capital cut into fleurs-de-luce in the iirfl: kind of bci[fo reIiez;o, fo as fjme parts of the fculpture are quite free of the pillar, and the light is feen through the open- ings. On this capital are cherubs play- ins: on different initruments of mufic, viz. pfalters, &c. The architrave join- ing; the faid pillar to the fecond middle pillar, do'.vn from the altar wefiward, K 3 has 134 LETTER XIIL has on both fides only foliage. Upon-, or above the capital of this fecond pillar ' there is a hare eating a cabbage, and aii elephant, befides fome human figures . defaced. The key-ftone of the third double arch is pendent as the two form- er ones, but ends in a reprefentation of the (lar in the eaft at our Saviour's birth; on the fouth poi-nt of which Hands the Virgin Mother, with the babe in her arms. On her right hand, being the next point of the liar, is the manger, and round from that on the other points are the wife-men from the eail, each of them having a long rod or llaff in his hand. Each corner of the: window, oppofite to the ftar, has three- cherubs (befides thofe which have been pedeflals of ftatues on the back of the altar, four of which are in fight of the Har) with a fcroU waving up and down from D LETTER XIII. 13 &om hand to hand, reprefenting, per- haps the angelic declaration of the birth of the Mefiias to the ihepherds, and the heavenly choir, pra'ifing God^ and faying^ Glory to God in the Ingheft, and on earth peace, good zv'iU tozvards men. The key-itone of the fourth and laft double arch, above the large altar, de- pends in length as the former ones, and is a piece of foliage. Two fides of this double arch, with your face towards the north -weft, reprefents the rcfurrec- tion, by people riling out of their graves like fkelctons, and improving into pro- per forms placed clofe to the fkeletons. In the oppofite window, bclr.g the fourth in the altar, north-call corner of the chapel, there are two cherubs with fcrolls as above, and four without them. I mull now carry you from eail K .4, to J36 LETTER XIII. to well, betwixt the north wail and the- north colonade. In the firfl window in the north wall,, being above the north end of the altar,, there are two cherubs, each at the fet- ting on of the arch of the window. Upon the capital of the firft pillar there are cherubs playing on mufical inftruments, one particularly on the bag- pipe, in the Highland way, by blowing- with the mouth, and a cherub having a book fpread open before him. On the architrave joining the firft pillar to the fecond, with your face to the fouth,. you fee Samfon taking hold of the two pillars, and pulling down the houfe upon the Philiflines ; and on the archi- trave joining the fecond pillar to its fmallcr oppofite one on the north wall, with your face to the weft, you fee the Philiflines lying dead, fo that thefe two architraves L E T T E R Xlir. 137 architraves are rectangular to one an- other, and thereby mighty expreffive of their defign. Upon the capital of the fecond pillar' there are bafkets in foliage ; and on the outiide of one of them there is a human figure lying along at full length : in the fecond window are four cherubs and foliage. Upon the capital of the fmailer pillar- on the north wall, oppofite to the fecond large pillar, there is a coat of arms fup- pc-rted by two men lying along, and al- moft kneeling : in the third windoW;,. there are four cherubs in foliage. Upon the floor, precifely between the fecond and third pillars, there is a rough draught of a man in armour on a coarfe flat ftone, with his hands lifted up and joined together as in prayer, with. r^S LETTER Xlli; with a grey-hound at his feer, and -^ lion rampant at each car. Upon the capital of the third pillar there is an elephant, a head of a fcr- pent, 8cc. On the architrave from the third pil- lar to irs oppofite fmall one on the wall, there is only foliage. Upon the capital of faid fmall pillar, there is an eniign armorial fupported by two men lying along, almofc kneeling. In the fourth window are two cherubs, and two an- tique heads and foliage. Upon the ca- pital of the fourth pillar are two angels r-emoving the {tone from the door of the fepulchre, wherein our Saviour's body was laid, and two monflrous beads, re- prefcnting, perhaps, death and heU. On the architrave, betwixt the faid pil- lar and its fmaller on the wall, there is only foliage.. Next LETTER Xlir. 139 Next to this fmaller pillar, oppofite to the opening between the fourth and fifth pillars, is the north door of the ehapel, which has an arched porch with- out, before 3'ou come to the door ; then the top of the door, on the outfide, is an hyperthyron, or architrave, but on the infide ic is arched, and on entering you go one flep down to the floor of the chapel. Above this door there is a little window, whofe form is an equilateral. fpherical triangle, waved into different fhapes within the triangle^ and adorned on the infide and outfide of its perimeter^ with foliage, &c. Upon the capital of the fifth pillar is the Mater dolorofa^ with the beloved dlf^ •ciple, looking at our Saviour on the crofs, upon the capital of the oppofice fmaller pillar^^ with the multitude around him. I4Q 'LETTER XIII. him, and the ladder up to the crofs on our Saviour's left-hand. Upon the capital of the faid fifth pillar, there are likevvife two monurous ^beafis. The fifth and laft window in the north w^all, has only foliage, and on one of the lower corners, three human figures in a group. Upon the capital of the fixth pillar, there are two birds, one of them feeding the other, and a iiian grappling with a boar. The feventh pillar in the weft wall, has on its capital a cherub with a fcroll waved up and down from hand to hand ; and, upon the capital, two dragons intwifted. I muil: now return to the prince's, or apprentice's pillar, and go down from eaft to weft, between the fouth wall and fouth range of pil- lars : the firfl window in the fouth wall, immediately LETTER XIII. 141 immediately above the high altar and the entry down to the facrilly, has two cherubs and foliaofe. Upon the capital of the prince's pil- lar, the lide oppofite the fouth wall, are Ilaac upon the altar, and the ram below it caught in the thicket by the horns; and on the call: end of the ar- chitrave, (chat joins the faid pillar to the fecond,) next to the prince's pillar, is Abraham ftanding, in view of the altar, with his hands lifted up in prayer: on the other, or weft end of the fame architrave, next to the fecond pillar, is a man playing on the bag-pipe, and an- other human figure at his right foot ly- ing ailcep. On the architrave joining to the prince's pillar to its fmaller oppofite one on the fouth wall, with your face to the ead, and to the entry of the facritly you 142 LETTER XIIL you read an infcription in Gothic clia- radlers. - The fccond window has four cherubs, and foliage. Upon the capital of the fecond pillar, there is an anti(}ue head, and an elephant. On the eafl ficle of 'the architrave, which joins the fecond large pillar to its fmaller oppofite one on the fouth wall, with your back to the facrifty, you view the following fine figures from fouth to north, or from the left to the right hand. i. A bifhop .cardinal. 2. A cripple, w^ith his fiilts :Under his arms, leading a blind- man. 3. One cloathing the naked, by throw- ing a garment over the head of a figure, whofe naked fhoulders and back are very expreffive, 4. Vifiting the fick in bed. 5. A woman taking care of babes, meaning, no doubt, fatherlefs, or orphans, 6. Feeding the hungry. 7. Burying LETTER XIII. 143 7. Burying the dead. 8. Another car- dinal bifhop, with a key, the emblem of difcipline. On the oppofite fide of the fame ar- chitrave, with your face to the facrifly, -you view the fame number of figures from north to fouth^ or from left to ■ right. I. A bifiiop with a mitre on his head, Sec. 2. A man with a cloak about him, and his hands in his fides, which is fuppofed to be a reprefentation of the proud Pharifee. 3. A drunkard. 4. Two gluttons. 5. A traveller. 6. The humble publican. 7. Bacchus. 8. A man and a wom.an embracing each other. 9. Behind the woman a devil ifluing out of a monfirous mouth, re- prefenting the jaws of hell, and firetch- ing out a paw to catch hold of them,