ston, and on the road from Staines to Kingston Bridge; so
that the road straightening the parks a little, they were obliged to part
the parks, and leave the Paddock and the great park part on the other
side the road--a testimony of that just regard that the kings of England
always had, and still have, to the common good, and to the service of the
country, that they would not interrupt the course of the road, or cause
the poor people to go out of the way of their business to or from the
markets and fairs, for any pleasure of their own whatsoever.

The palace of Hampton Court was first founded and built from the ground
by that great statesman and favourite of King Henry VIII, Cardinal
Wolsey; and if it be a just observation anywhere, as is made from the
situation of the old abbeys and monasteries, the clergy were excellent
judges of the beauty and pleasantness of the country, and chose always to
plant in the best; I say, if it was a just observation in any case, it
was in this; for if there be a situation on the whole river between
Staines Bridge and Windsor Bridge pleasanter than another, it is this of
Hampton; close to the river, yet not offended by the rising of its waters
in floods or storms; near to the reflux of the tides, but not quite so
near as to be affected with any foulness of the water which the flowing
of the tides generally is the occasion of. The gardens extend almost to
the bank of the river, yet are never overflowed; nor are there any
marshes on either side the river to make the waters stagnate, or the air
unwholesome on that account. The river is high enough to be navigable,
and low enough to be a little pleasantly rapid; so that the stream looks
always cheerful, not slow and sleeping, like a pond. This keeps the
waters always clear and clean, the bottom in view, the fish playing and
in sight; and, in a word, it has everything that can make an inland (or,
as I may call it, a country) river pleasant and agreeable.

I shall sing you no songs here of the river in the first person of a
water-nymph, a goddess, and I know not what, according to the humour of
the ancient poets; I shall talk nothing of the marriage of old Isis, the
male river, with the beautiful Thame, the female river (a whimsey as
simple as the subject was empty); but I shall speak of the river as
occasion presents, as it really is made glorious by the splendour of its
shores, gilded with noble palaces, strong fortifications, large
hospita