THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

Vol. 17, No. 493.] Saturday, June 11, 1831. [Price 2d.

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[Illustration:  Boat-house at Virginia water.]

Lakers and lovers of the picturesque will, doubtless, be flocking to Virginia Water in the coming summer.  The rides and walks on its banks are thrown open to the public; but we hope this privilege will not be abused, as of old; for “there was a time when Virginia Water was profaned by the presence of prize-fighters, who were accustomed to train in the secluded alleys that bordered the lake; and it was, therefore, quite necessary that the privilege of admission to the grounds should be withdrawn from the inn to which these persons resorted.”  We hope better things from the improved taste of our times.

The attractions of the place are of no common order:  all that art and luxury could suggest have been lent to its embellishment.  “The artificial water is the largest in the kingdom, with the single exception of Blenheim; the cascade is, perhaps, the most striking imitation we have of the great works of Nature; and the grounds are arranged in the grandest style of landscape gardening."[1]

[1] We quote these passages from an excellent description of Virginia Water, in the Third Series of the London Magazine, and, for the most part quoted in vol. xii. of The Mirror.  The reader should turn to these pages.

Many persons may be disposed to question the taste of the Boat-house in the Engraving.  Its style is toy-like, and too artificial to suit our idea of picturesque propriety.  It was built by direction of the late King, and its design or approval was probably one of his labours of leisure.  It is less decorated and fantastical than other buildings in its vicinity, and perhaps deserves the faint praise of prettiness.  Grave persons dislike the little bells attached to the lantern-like part of the roof, and consider them too closely allied to the cap of folly.  Perhaps this objection to the building itself will only make the contiguous scenery more delightful.  Of its varied character, the Engraving furnishes an accurate idea, since the original sketch was made in the course of last year.  We could linger amidst these sylvan glories all the live long day, with a canopy of foliage just to shelter us from the heat of the meridian sun.

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PEERAGE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

(For the Mirror.)

To the Barons of England, of a truth, it may be said, man is indebted for constitutional liberty; for if we look but to Greece and Rome, those boasted lands of freedom, where, as the arts and sciences increased, liberty decayed, we shall perceive myriads of slaves, governed, as in savage nations, by a few political chiefs, whom brute force and superior address had raised above their fellow-citizens.