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the lines of Devonport, there are some fine terraces and ranges of houses, and a few elegant single dwellings, in the northern and eastern suburbs of the town, in Morice Town, and Stoke.

The walk from Devonport to Stonehouse and Plymouth brings to notice one matter which the townsmen ought to get rid of as soon as may be that is, the toll over Stonehouse Creek. On descending the road from Devonport to the Creek, a bridge presents the means of crossing, where a ferry used formerly to be. A bridge is certainly far superior to a ferry, but then there ought to be no toll. The intercourse between two such towns ought to be as intimate and close as possible, not checked even by a halfpenny toll. It is understood that the toll has paid for the bridge many times over; and it seems to indicate some want of public spirit that such a bridge should still remain the private property of the lords of the respective manors, the St. Aubyns on the one side and the Edgcumbes on the other. However, our halfpenny paid, and this bridge crossed, we come into Stonehouse, a flat, regular, quiet town, with few objects to attract the attention. The main artery of communication through the town from east to west, Union Street, is open, cheerful, and well built, and there are a few other good streets. The Government establishments, such as the Victualling Yard, the Marine Barracks, the Navy Hospital, &c., are the chief buildings in Stonehouse.

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Plymouth, as we have before said, has more of the bustle of a town than either of the other members of the triad. Its Government establishments have been briefly described, and so has the Hoe. Mill Bay, on the west side of the Hoe, has a few manufacturing establishments on its shores, and works have been commenced for a series of commercial docks in the Bay; but the luckless history of the South Devon Railway has thrown a temporary mistrust on everything connected with it. Nature has, however, done so much at Mill Bay, by giving an admirable boundary to this deep inlet, that we may look for some bold engineering works on the spot at some time or other.

Plymouth presents such a maze of crooked streets, that it requires some art for a stranger to steer a course through it. As for a direct artery east and west, or north and south, through the town, that is out of the question. The streets are thoroughly independent of geometrical arrangement, and look as if they had been dropped in their places, each without much regard to its neighbours. They are packed together with great closeness in the centre and towards Sutton Pool; and those which lie nearest to the water have a Wapping smell, and a Wapping look, and Wapping associations of every kind. But as Plymouth is advancing onward in prosperity, it is evident that there must be suitable residences for the prosperous merchants. Such there are in various parts of the margin of the town: near the Hoe; northward towards Stoke and Tamerton; north-east on the Tavistock-road; and eastward towards the Plym. In

some of the best streets there are splendid shops, successfully vying with the plate-glass brilliances of the Metropolis.

There is a considerable variety among the public buildings of Plymouth. One of the most striking buildings is that which contains the Theatre at one end, and the Assembly-room, and the Royal Hotel, at the other; it is an elegant Ionic pile, 275 feet in length, which presents two fine fronts to view. It was built by the Corporation in 1811, at an expense of £60,000; and we presume the Corporation is paid by the rental of the different parts of it. The Athenæum, or building for the Plymouth Institution; the Public Library; the Freemasons' Hall; the Mechanics' Institute; the Natural History Society's Rooms; the Medical and Law Libraries; the Room of the Botanical and Horticultural Societies; the Commercial and the Mechanics' News Room-all indicate by their names that there is considerable activity in Plymouth in respect to science and literature. Commerce is represented by the Custom and Excise Offices, the Exchange, the Chamber of Commerce, the Post-office, the ample and well-supplied Market, and the maritime buildings of various kinds. The shipping arrangements, wholly unconnected with Government, are large and important. Large vessels are engaged in the American, Baltic, and Mediterranean trades. The number of vessels belonging to Plymouth is said to be nearly 400, of about 30,000 tons. The emigrant system has become now one of great importance to Plymouth. The number of ships which leave this port for Australia, carrying full loads of emigrants, is becoming larger and larger every year; and however short may be the time that these vessels remain in the port, their presence is sure to benefit the town commercially. There is an emigrant depôt, near the eastern foot of the citadel, where a Government agent renders kindly services to those who are about to depart for foreign lands; and on a small quay or wharf near the depôt, many a group of intending emigrants may be seen taking a turn in the open air, during their temporary sojourn at Plymouth. It is a scene not without its touching features; but it is gratifying to think that such persons are no longer abandoned, as they formerly were, to the sharking knaves who used to rob them under various pretences during their short stay at the shipping ports.

Steam navigation, too, has taken a certain footing at Plymouth. The Irish steamers always call here on their way to and from London; and there is, in addition,, steam communication with Liverpool, Falmouth, Torquay, and the Channel Islands. Besides the quays and shipping arrangements in Sutton Pool, there is a pier on the east-side of Mill Bay, at which ships can land and receive passengers and goods at any state of the tide. Manufactures, too, are carried on to some considerable extent. Soap-works, starchworks, sugar refineries, spirit distilleries, breweries, &c., have all been established here since the termi nation of the war.

Antiquities we must not look for in these towns. St. Andrew's Church, in the centre of the town, is among the oldest of existing buildings but its interior has undergone great alterations. Of the churches and chapels, the hospitals and asylums of Plymouth, there are not many that would attract attention by their architectural beauty: their excellences must be sought for in other directions.

MOUNT BATTEN; MOUNT EDGCUMBE. When we cross the Catwater and the Lara, we get beyond the limits of the three towns. Green fields and scanty houses point to a new neighbourhood. We have spoken more than once of the eastern side of Plymouth Sound being terminated northward by a jutting promontory called Mount Batten, which narrows the channel whereby the Catwater enters the Sound. This Mount Batten is a singular spot, and the way thither from Plymouth is not without interesting features. After crossing Catdown, a steep descent leads to the æstuary of the Plym or Lara, where this river expands into the Catwater; and at this part the whole edge of the Down is quarried away: a few houses here and there being occupied by quarrymen and boatmen. Crossing by the ferry to Oreston, and passing the large merchant vessels which are always lying at anchor there, we come to a spot whence the stone was obtained for the breakwater ; and after a walk of about a mile, through a village of quarrymen and boatmen, and along some fields which occupy the neck or isthmus of the promontory, we come to Mount Batten. This elevation is surrounded by water on three-fourths of its circumference, and has a wild and rugged appearance. The Catwater, Catdown, Plymouth, the Citadel, the Hoe, Mill Bay, Cremill Point, Mount Edgcumbe, Drake's Island, the Sound, the Breakwater-all are visible from it. Our Steel Plate gives one of the views obtained from this height. On the top of Mount Batten is a tower, desolate and unused; whether it would remain desolate and unused if there were wars or rumours of wars, military engineers must determine; but the spot seems admirably fitted for defensive purposes of some kind or other.

As we advance along the eastern margin of the Lara towards the road which leads to Totness and Ashburton, a very beautiful stretch of country opens upon the view. A fine bridge has been built over the Lara. It was constructed in 1827 by Mr. Rendel; it is of cast-iron, about five hundred feet in length, with five arches, the centre one of which is a hundred feet span. The Earl of Morley built the bridge, and other parties built an embankment to connect this bridge with the level of the common roadway. This gives rise to the oddity of a twofold toll-one for the embankment, and one for the bridge. Advanced to the embanked portion, a toll-keeper civilly demands a modicum of copper from you; and having progressed a little farther, where the territories of the bridge succeed those of the embankment, another driblet has to flow from your pocket. Why on earth

should such a cumbrous system be kept up? The tolls in amount are humble enough; but why not compound or share in some way? It reminds one of the Customs' duties on the frontiers of the petty German principalities, before the formation of the German Customs' Union. However, strangers have no right to be captious, if the townsmen are content; so we walk over the bridge to Saltram. This is a beautiful mansion belonging to the Earl of Morley, surrounded by still more beautiful grounds. A liberal amount of permission to view the house and grounds is given by the noble proprietor; and many a pleasant pic-nic is made thither in the summer season, often by boat, from Mill Bay or Sutton Pool, to a water-side lodge at the margin of the grounds. The house contains a fine collection of pictures, rich in the works of the Italian masters; and there is also a small but choice cabinet of sculpture, including a Hebe by Canova. The grounds are extensive, and laid out with great taste.

There are many other pleasant spots in the immediate vicinity of Plymouth, on the east and north-east. One of these is Plymstock, on the road to Dartmouth; another is Plympton, on the Totness Road. Plympton was an ancient stannary and borough town, and formerly the baronial seat of the Earls of Devon. There are yet a few remains of the ancient castle, sufficient to give an idea of its magnificence when in its prime. The fosse, portions of the walls, and the artificial mound on which the keep was built, still remain; but all else is gone. Near the parish church of Plympton St. Mary, are a few remains of Plympton Priory, at one time among the richest in the county. Northward from this point, or following the course of the Plym for a short distance, we arrive at Boringdon House, where is deposited a valuable collection of works of art, open at certain times to visitors. The northern margin of Plymouth and Devonport contains also many spots which entice to a ramble. Lipson, Egg Buckland, Compton Gifford, Milehouse, Weston Peverell, and St. Budeaux, are all villages around which picturesque scenes may be met with; so likewise are those which bear the odd names of Knackers' Knowl, and Penny-come-quick.

But Mount Edgcumbe (Cut, No. 7) is, par excel lence, the most lovely spot in the immediate vicinity of the three towns. It is a gracefully formed hill, laid out in pleasure-grounds so as to command the finest views and to present the finest effect. Poets of all grades have been in raptures with it; and foreigners have said that no place in England deserves better to be compared with the loveliest scenes of Italy. Carrington says,

"Oh! when the breath

Of Spring is on thy renovated hill,—
When all the buds are leaping into leaf,
And the fair sheets of earlier foliage clothe
Anew thy waste of boughs,—delicious 'tis
To look on thy peninsula !"

And he then paints the more warmly-tinted scene which autumn presents,

Mount Edgcumbe House, placed on the slope of the hill so as to be best seen from Devonport, was built in 1550; but it has undergone many alterations which have taken away somewhat of its Elizabethan character. The interior, as may be supposed, contains some. splendid apartments; but it is not rich in paintings or works of art. The grounds are much more attractive than the mansion. The Italian garden, the Doric conservatory, the French garden, the cenotaph to the memory of the late Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, the English garden, the pavilion, the ruins of the block house, Thomson's scat, the amphitheatre, the temple of Milton, the Gothic ruin, the cottage, the great terrace, the archway, the zig-zag walks, the valley of Picklecombe, the Hoe Lake valley, the White Seat, have all been the objects of especial description in the local guide-books; of which that by Mr. H. E. Carrington, son of the Devonport poet, is a good deal superior to the general level of guide-books. It is said that when the Spanish Armada was about to visit England, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, admiral of the Spanish fleet, cast a longing eye on Mount Edgcumbe, and stipulated that it should come to his share in the anticipated spoliation of England. The don's taste is to be admired, though his aspirations proved to be hollow. As in many other similar places, the natural beauties of Edgcumbe are superior to the artificial. The pavilion, the temple of Milton, the artificial Gothic ruin, the artificial chapel ruin, might be dispensed with without much loss; but the beauty and grandeur of the Mount; its trees and verdure; and the glittering waters by which it is bounded on three-fourths of its circumference; these have been objects of admiration for many centuries, and will be probably for centuries to come.

THE RAILWAY.

We have hitherto kept within the limits of the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, or in their immediate vicinity. But it is part of our plan also to take a hasty glance at a belt of country situated somewhat farther distant; to notice, in fact, a few of the wild scenes of Dartmoor, and of the beauties of the rivers Tavy and Tamar; and to conduct the reader across the Tamar to one of the nearest of the Cornish mines. But first a word or two about the Railway, and the general course of the route between Plymouth and Exeter.

It is quite refreshing at times to take up some old book of touring or travelling, to remind us in what manner former generations of men got over the ground. Joseph Baretti, foreign secretary to the Royal Academy, made a journey from London to Falmouth, and thence to Italy, in 1760; and the narrative of his journey, in two portly quartos, affords us an amusing insight into the travelling arrangements ninety years ago. Unless we forget for a moment the present seven hours' whirl from London to Plymouth, we shall hardly be able to do justice to our friend Baretti.

He started from London on the 14th of August. He found himself in a coach with five other travellers; and the six formed a pleasant party: "three women on one side, and three men over against them." These were an elderly aunt and her two nieces, an English gentleman, a Scotch officer, and Baretti. The Scotchman talked largely about the nobility of Argyleshire; "but the Englishman and I," says Baretti, "employed our time to better purpose, chatting as fast as we could with the nieces, both modestly talkative and modestly pretty, yet the good aunt was not so deeply sunk into genealogy [with the Scotch officer] as her partner would have her; but turned to us from time to time, and encouraged her girls to be cheerful and sing songs, which they often did in such a manner as to please even an Italian. So agreeable a company I shall probably not find in the remainder of our journey; as it is but seldom that poor travellers are so lucky as to meet with such good-natured aunts, and with girls so pretty, so sprightly, and so obliging."

On the second day of their travelling they reached Salisbury; and as Baretti had heard of the cathedral, and wished to see it, he “ alighted and ran like a fury through the town," admiring the market-place and the street canals (since arched over) in his way. On the third day they dined at Honiton, "where they make a good deal of that lace so much admired by Italian ladies, that goes with them by the name of merletti d'Inghilterra." This fact, of Honiton lace having been a favourite material in Italy ninety years ago, is a little bit of manufacturing history not without interest. Lace has been made at Honiton ever since; and many persons might make the same observation as Baretti does: "I wonder why lace is not made everywhere, as those who make it are neither philosophers nor conjurers, but poor ignorant women." There is such a thing as having a name, which determines many such matters. But to return. After dinner the Englishman and Baretti walked out of the town, "to stretch their legs," (imagine such a licence at Swindon or Wolverton) and to see the duckingstool. The coach overtook them, and soon afterwards the damsels and their aunt alighted. "The separation seemed grievous to us all; we kissed and parted." He then gives a little of the philosophy of kissing, as comparing Italians with English; he thinks men kissing men, and women kissing women poor work; and promises to introduce the English custom when he gets back to his own country.

His coach went no farther than Exeter, in which town he spent a day. He states that the "houses are generally built in such a style of architecture, that Palladio would have hanged himself for vexation if he had seen them;" he heard a sermon in the cathedral against the vanity of fine-dressing, but did not think the Exonians looked smart enough to require the reproof; he comments on the fifty alto-relievo figures, with fifty broken noses, on the front of the cathedral; and he gives a line to the fine elevated walk, called the Northern Hay, "much frequented by women."

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