he Duke of Beaufort, afford a noble
specimen of Gothic architecture, and retain marks of their ancient
magnificence:

"The fair wrought shaft all ivy bound
The tow'ring arch with foliage crown'd
That trembles on its brow sublime,
Triumphant o'er the spoils of Time."

These remains acquire additional beauty from their romantic situation.
The roof has fallen in; but the pillars and tracery of many of the
windows are perfect. The green lawn is covered with fragments of
sculpture and memorials of those who once dwelt within this magnificent
pile:

"But all is still. The chequer'd floor,
Shall echo to the step no more;
Nor airy roof the strain prolong
Of vesper chant or choral song."

BLOOMFIELD.

In the year 1634, Colonel Sandys attempted to make the Wye navigable
by means of locks, but as this experiment was unsuccessful, they were
afterwards removed. This river from the confluence of its mountain
streams after heavy rains, is subject to sudden inundations, which
though in many respects injurious to the farmer, greatly fertilize the
meadows in its vicinity, and especially those near Monmouth, by the
valuable matter it deposits. The tide of the Severn, from the peculiar
projection of the rocks at the mouth of the Wye, flows up the latter
river with great rapidity, to the height of more than forty feet.
"The highest tide," says Mr. Coxe, "within the memory of the present
generation, rose to fifty-six feet."

To the admirers of the architecture of the baronial mansions of the
middle ages, the remains of the numerous castles which have been erected
on the banks of the Wye to repel the incursions of the Welsh, by the
Talbots and Strongbows, and other renowned families of former days,
will afford the highest gratification, and give a silent though powerful
admonition, that human grandeur endureth but for a day:

"On the Gwentian shore
The regal banner streams no more.
Nettles and vilest weeds that grow,
To mock poor grandeur's head laid low,
Creep round the turret's valour rais'd,
And flaunt where youth and beauty gazed."

W.

* * * * *

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._

* * * * *

THE SUNDAY LIBRARY.

This work is intended to consist of "_Manuals of Religious Edification_,
more especially adapted for the LORD'S DAY; as containing the sentiments
of many of the more eminent Div