From Hampton, the country on the Surrey side is nothing more than one continued and extensive plain for several miles, which has no particular claims on our attention; while the view on the opposite shore, being bounded by the village of Hampton, holds forth no very inviting prospect to the eye, nor is there anything worthy of research; we therefore turn to the river itself, now agreeably diversified by the number of little green isles that exist between Garrick's villa and Sunbury. The pedestrian is pleasantly engaged in beholding their luxuriant foliage and waving boughs, and the high state of cultivation in which they are. Thus employed we arrive at

SUNBURY, differing widely from its neighbour, Hampton, it being a very fine and extensive village, not to say a sumptuous one. It consists of one long street of large and well-built houses, mostly inhabited by a very respectable class of gentry. It is prettily situated on an elevated site, overlooking the meadows of Surrey, to and from which there is a ferry, with a lock and weir close at hand. Though much may be advanced in favour of this village, little can be said for its inns or public houses; and we would advise the pedestrian (for we speak as we have found), if he should choose to be ferried over the Thames for the purpose of making a closer inspection of Sunbury, by no means to make any stay there : should he, however, contrary to the advice now given, determine to take his chance, he will meet

with bad fare and high charges. But pass we on towards Walton, whose bridge, backed by the woods of Oatlands, may occasionally be seen in fine contrast to the rather denuded country through which for the last few miles we have been straying. As a town or village, of

WALTON much need not be said; but the fineness of the country around, the situation in which it is placed, together with the numerous seats that embellish the neighbourhood, give it many claims to our attention. Most writers seem to agree that Walton takes its name from a vallum or rampire of earth with a trench running from St. George's Hill, situate in this parish. There are also traces of a camp, and it appears not to be doubted that the Romans had a station of some consequence at this place. Salmon, however, in his Surr. 66. 71. supposes it the Tamese of Ravennas, the ramparts and graff being bigger than Roman, and that a vicinal way led to it from Guildford. There is an old story about Middlesex having at one time joined this town, some three hundred years ago; but on account of a dreadful inundation, the old current of the Thames was changed, a church swallowed up, and much other damage done. There is, however, nothing like a conclusive authority for such an assertion, and at the best it rests but on a feeble foundation.

The church makes a good appearance, is large and spacious, with a fine square tower; it is built

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of flints and plaster, possesses a nave, chancel, and aisles, and is rich in decoration, monuments, and inscriptions, raised and written to perpetuate the memory of the dead. Near the altar lie the remains of Lilly, the astrologer; he had a house in or near Walton, was an ingenious and talented man, though a firm believer in astrology, and has given us the history of his own life, which is still looked upon as a very interesting piece of biography. In the north aisle is a very fine monument to the memory of Richard Viscount Shannon: it consists of the marble figure of a man in armour, in his right hand he holds a truncheon, while his left reclines upon some colours, about him are various implements of war, and at his feet a female is seen embracing an urn. There is a very long inscription, in which is related the principal transactions of his life; such as his having been engaged in the battles of the Boyne and Lander, storming of Vigo, &c. &c. He died on the 20th of December, 1740, aged 65 years. In the chancel, and also well deserving of the strictest attention, are a couple of brass plates, the first of which is engraved on both sides, but being suspended on a nail is capable of being turned round, and can therefore be very readily seen. On one side is the figure of a man with a hat on his head, booted and spurred, sitting on a stag, in the stag's throat there being a sword; on the reverse side he is still on the stag's back, one hand holding by its horns, and with the other he is in the act of stab

bing the animal; here he is represented without his hat, but retaining the boots and spurs. On the other plate is represented himself, his wife, and their children, five sons and six daughters. Manning, in his history of Surrey, gives the following traditionary story to account for the above-mentioned plates. He says

"John Selwyn, the person represented on one in the praying posture, and on the others in the act of killing the stag, was, as appears by the inscription, under keeper of the park at Otelands, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; the bugle horn, the mark of his office, is apparent in both figures. This man, according to the sexton, was famous for his strength, agility, and skill in horsemanship, specimens of all which he exbibited before the queen at a grand stag hunt in that park, where attending, as was his duty of office, he, in the heat of the chase, suddenly leaped from his horse upon the back of the stag, both running at that time with their utmost speed, and not only kept his seat gracefully, in spite of every effort of the affrighted beast, but drawing his sword, with it guided him towards the queen, and coming near her, he plunged it in his throat, so that the animal fell dead at her feet. This was thought sufficiently wonderful to be chronicled on his monument, and he is accordingly there pourtrayed in the act of stabbing the stag.

“An extraordinary circumstance occurs in the plate, which has given rise to various conjectures.

The representation of the story here related is engraved on both sides of the same plate; in one Selwyn appears with a hat on his head, and in the other he is bareheaded, but with spurs on, a circumstance wanted in the former; from this double representation some have thought he performed this feat more than once, others with more probability attribute it to the first engraving not having been approved of by the family, as deficient either in likeness or some other circumstance, wherefore a second might be done, and to save the expense of a fresh plate, was executed on the back of the former, which opinion receives some confirmation from the four holes seen at the corners of the plate, by which it was fastened down, so that only one side could be viewed."

There is also in the church a highly curious figure of a woman with an iron bridle on her tongue, the following lines being written underneath,—

"Chester to Walton gives this bridle

To curb Women's tongues when they talk too idle."

The building is of very ancient date, notice being taken of it in the reign of Edward the First, at which time the living was valued at fourteen marks a year.

The Manor of Walton, in the time of William the First, was in possession of Edward of Salisbury; but came into the hands of the Crown in the reign of Henry the Fifth, and so continued until granted away by Charles the First to certain