Ne'er led adown thy cheeks the feeling tear Every assertion is supported by authorities; the notes are very numerous, and are, in general, collected from "obsolete or expensive books," and, in some cases, from MS. documents to which the author has had access-this is particularly the case with the Appendix, which is from the MS. of the Rev. Mr. Williams, school-master of Beaumaris, in 1669, and contains a circumstantial account of the "rising which took place in Anglesey in 1648, and the taking of the castle by General Mytton," who commanded for the Parliament at that time. The poem has been given to me by its author, and the above quotation will give you an idea of the pleasure you will derive from a perusal of the whole. The Bard of Gray is, you will immediately recollect, founded on the same portion of British history. Farewell, my dear friend, may it be your's and mine, never to witness such scenes as these-It must be by the divine favour, however, if we do not; for, of the intentions of our ene mies there can be no doubt. LETTER VII. Lea-wood, July 29, 1803, MY DEAR FRIEND, We have now reached what was one of the chief objects of our excursion-the abode of an affectionate and beloved sister-we have found her in a paradise; but of this in due course; at present it is my business, not to describe Lea-wood, but the road to it. We quitted Chester before six o'clock on Wednesday morning, and our object was to have rested at Buxton that night; but, alas! this plan proved abortive-this, however, we did not know until we reached Middlewich; so that, during our ride from Chester to that place, which was twenty miles, the visions of anticipation and hope were unbroken, and we had full leisure, as well as inclination, to admire the various and lovely landscapes that bordered our way. For some miles the paved road was a little interruption to our enjoyment-its roughness gave us many a jolt, and the noise it occasioned almost completely barred conversation. Delamere Forest, one of the glories of Cheshire, we crossed a small part of, before we passed through Torperley-the general idea of a forest is by no means suggested by what we saw of this tract of country. Time has of course diminished its woods; indeed none of them came in our way, but no doubt it was formerly what its name imports, a space chiefly covered with trees. This is a brief description that I have seen of it-" It is a delightful and comfortable place to the neighbouring townships, having pasture in its vallies, wood on its hills, fern on its plains, fish and fowl in the meres, besides turf for fuel, &c." At the Restoration, Charles II. gave the title of Baron Delamere to Sir George Booth, who was very active in his interest; and William III. made the son of Sir George, Earl of Warrington, for his services at the Revolution. To the south of Torperley are the ruins of Beeston castle, which was built by Ranulph the Third, the sixth earl of Chester, upon his return from the Crusades. This Ranulph died in 1232, after a government of more than fifty years. The castle, which was very extensive, stands upon a hill, and is fortified by the surrounding mountains, as well as its own walls and numerous towers. Near it are many traces of ditches and other military works. At Winsford we passed the first collection of salt-works, for which this part of the country is so famous. We reached Middlewich a little after ten o'clock, and, upon ordering fresh horses for Congleton, were mortified with the declaration that, on account of Knutsford Races, it was impossible for us to have any. I went to the only other inn where post-horses are kept, and found that I had not received a false account-nothing remained, therefore, but to submit with as good a grace as possible. We secured beds, ordered a dinner, and set out to survey the place where we were to spend our day-we found it a dirty, ill-built, and apparently decaying town. Its church is large, but has marks of age in every part of it; and the churchyard is kept in a very slovenly manner. It is a very ancient borough, and derives its name from its situation betwixt two towns, whose names terminate with the same syllable-Nantwich and Northwich. It stands upon the conflux of the Croke and the Dan. The day was extremely hot, and we had a broiling walk by the side of the canal to the place where the water of the brine-springs is forced up by horse-mills into large shallow coppers for boiling-when the crystals become sufficiently heavy, they sink to the bottom-the water is evaporated, and the salt remains. I tasted the water as it was in its way to the boilers, and it was a very fine salt. Several pits were working-the brines from these pits are of unequal strength, but, when mixed, four ounces of salt is commonly obtained from a pound of brine. Experience, it seems, has shewn, that in these springs the water is strongest nearest the bottom, richer in dry weather than in wet, and when long drawn than when first wrought. In 1670, a rock of salt was discovered at á small distance from Northwich, which has been wrought to a great depth, and to a vast extent; and, it is highly probable, that there is an immense body of fossile salt in the bowels of the earth, under this whole county, as, upon boring, brine pits have been found in so many places. The following account, which has appeared in the public prints since my return home, I now insert here, as it describes the present state of this stupendous salt cavern. Northwich, Nov. 15, 1803.-On Wednesday last his Royal Highness, Prince William of Gloucester, honoured this place with his presence. He was accompanied by T. Cholmondeley, Esq. Member for Cheshire, and several other gentlemen of the first rank in the country. His Royal Highness's principal object was to see the salt-mines at this place; one of which, the most spacious, was lighted up on the occasion. His Royal Highness, accompanied by Mr. Cholmondeley, was lowered, by means of the steam-engine, about three hundred feet into the bowels of the earth. On their arrival at the bottom, they were saluted with three times three cheers by a great number of workmen, and other persons who had previously gone down to receive them. This, together with the glare of nearly three thousand candles, the brilliancy of the roof of this tremendous cavern, the immense pillars, left at proper intervals for its support, the |