onous brick-walls, the boundaries were formed by the
magical fences of #Pilton#, allowing the free passage of the solar
rays and the vital air, reciprocating delightful prospects from
plantation to plantation, and adding the essential charms of variety
to the pleasures of possession.

The first house in the lane is the classical seat of the Earl of
Besborough, enriched with specimens of ancient statuary from Italy and
Greece, and with exquisite pictures of the Italian, Flemish, and Dutch
schools. Adjoining, is the highly finished residence of the
Marchioness of Downshire; and farther on, are the superb mansions of
Mr. Gosling, a banker; and of Mr. Dyer. In the lane leading to
Richmond Park, across which there is a delightful drive to the
Star-and-Garter, is the charming residence of Mr. Temple; and, farther
north, is the splendid mansion of the late Mr. Benjamin Goldsmid,
since become the property of Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough.

Various associations in regard to its first and its present
proprietor, drew my attention to the site last mentioned. I had not
leisure to examine its interior, but the exterior is in the best style
of such edifices. The house looks to the north-west, and, being the
last in the descent of the hill, commands an uninterrupted prospect
over the country towards Harrow and Elstree. The front consists of a
superb portico of white marble columns, in the Corinthian order; but
in other respects the house is not very striking, and its dimensions
are inconsiderable. The lawn falls pleasingly towards a piece of
water, and on its eastern side is a fascinating drive of half-a-mile,
terminated by a pair of cast-iron gates of singular beauty. But the
object which more particularly called to mind the unbounded wealth of
its former proprietor, is a subterraneous way to the kitchen-garden
and lawns on the opposite side the road. It is finished with gates
resembling those of a fortified castle, with recesses and various
ornaments, all of Portland-stone; and on the near side is a spacious
hermitage.

In this house the late Mr. B. Goldsmid resided, while he balanced the
finances of the British empire, and raised for the Pitt Administration
those vast sums which enabled it to retard the progress of liberal
opinions during the quarter of a century! After the instance of a
Goldsmid, the reputed wealth of a Croesus sinks into insignificance.
The Jew broker, year after year, raised for the British government
sums