xplored the beauties of this our own hill of Chertsey; truly, to do so,
would take a day as long as that of its own black cherry fair.

A path to the left, among the fern and heather, leads to a well, famed for
its healing properties--it is called the Nun's Well; even now, the peasants
believe that its waters are a cure for diseases of the eye; the path is
steep and dangerous, and it is far pleasanter to walk round the brow of
the hill and overlook the dense wood which conceals the well, fringing the
meadows of Thorpe, than to seek its tangled hiding-place in the dell. The
monks of old would be sorely perplexed if they could arise, to account for
the long line of smoke which marks the passage of the different trains
along their railroads. But we turn from them to enjoy a ramble round the
brow of St. Anne's Hill; the coppice which clothes the descent into the
valley, is so thick, that though it is intersected by many paths, you
might lose yourself half-a-dozen times within an hour; if it be evening,
the nightingales in the thickets of Monksgrove have commenced their
chorus, and the town of Chertsey, down below, is seen to its full extent,
its church tower toned into beauty by the rich light of the setting sun,
while through the trees and holly thickets you obtain glimpses of the
Guildford and Leatherhead hills, so softly blue, that they meet and mingle
with the sky.

[Illustration: GATE OF FOX'S HOUSE.]

GATE OF FOX'S HOUSE.

[Illustration: SUMMER HOUSE IN FOX'S GARDEN.]

SUMMER HOUSE IN FOX'S GARDEN.

[Illustration: TEMPLE OF FRIENDSHIP.]

TEMPLE OF FRIENDSHIP.

Those who feel no interest in monkish chronicles, may reverence St. Anne's
Hill, because of its having been the favorite residence of Charles James
Fox, the contemporary of Pitt and Burke and Sheridan and Grattan, at a
period when men felt strongly and spoke eloquently. The site of the house
on the south-eastern site of the hill is extremely beautiful, and it is
much regretted in the neighborhood that it finds so little favor in the
heart of its present noble proprietor. The grounds are laid out with much
taste; there is a noble cedar planted by Mrs. Fox when only the size of a
wand. The statesman's widow survived her husband more than thirty-six
years, but never outlived her friends or her faculties. There is a temple
dedica