EXCURSION V.

LONDON TO GUILDFORD BY THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY-GUILDFORD CASTLE-SAINT CATHERINE'S HILLTHE "HOG'S BACK"-SUTTON PLACE-LOSELY HALL-FARNHAM-FARNHAM CASTLE-WAVERLY ABBEY-FARNBOROUGH STATION.

In one hour and a half after leaving Nine Elms the quick trains of the South-Western Railway will set a passenger down at Guildford, which, though so full of objects to render a day's jaunt delightfully interesting, was little visited by excursionists from town until the extension of the line from Woking made the distance fall within the compass of an afternoon's journey. Seated on the slope of a chalk hill rising from the river Wey, the aspect of the town, on our first entrance, is singularly striking and picturesque; the streets, too, have a cheerful bustle about them, and the salubrity of the air is well attested by the broad ruddy features of the farmers that we encounter about the market-place. The visitor, after the discussion of that refreshment which his railway ride will have rendered requisite, will of course go down the High Street, wherein he shall see, on the north side, a venerable building crowned with a turret, and having a clock projecting into the street, with a double dial east and west. This is the Town Hall, a building about 170 years old, and the place of meeting for the town and county quarter sessions. Opposite is the Corn Market. The three parish churches, St. Nicholas, on the west, Trinity, in the east, and St. Mary's, on the south, are of various degrees of architectural merit; Trinity Church being the most modern, and St. Mary's the most antique. The remains of Guildford Castle, built about the time of the Norman Conquest, are scattered down

the south side of the High Street, where some of the outer walls, of amazing strength and thickness, may yet be seen to attest the solidity and magnitude of this formidable fortress. Its position, commanding the river Wey, was well calculated for the defence of the town. Many portions of the walls, enduringly built of flint and ragstone, are 10 feet thick. Abbot's Hospital, founded in the reign of James I., by George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, is an interesting relic of welldirected munificence. There are twelve aged men and eight aged women admitted to the benefits of this institution, which had an endowment on a very liberal scale. The environs of Guildford have many attractions, not among the least of which is St. Catherine's Hill, about a mile from the town, which, with a continuation of the ramble acrosss the hilly range called the "Hog's back," will be found to yield most delightful views. Sutton Place, built by Sir Richard Western in 1530, and Losely Hall, reputed to have originated from Sir Thomas More, are both within two miles of the town.

From Guildford there is a magnificent drive, of about ten miles, on to Farnham, across the hills and through two picturesque little villages, called Puttenham and Seale. To the left of Seale and "the Hog's Back" is Hampton Lodge, embosomed among the trees, the elegant mansion of Henry Lawes Long Esq., author of several antiquarian works of celebrity. Hops and antiquities both invest Farnham with considerable importance, and render its name familiar alike to ale-drinkers and antiquarians. The ruins of Farnham Castle, which may be seen on a hill to the north of the town, are in very good preservation. The founder was Bishop Henry De Blois, brother to that "worthy peer" King Stephen, and though it is certain, in our days of civilization, a church would be deemed more befitting the outlay of a bishop than a castle, the design was then spoken of as a sound proof of ecclesiastical prudence. It was garrisoned for Charles I. by Sir John Denham, but Waller, who commanded the Roundheads, necessitated a retreat, and blew up the fortress in 1642. After

the restoration it was rebuilt, and the Bishop's palace within restored to its former splendour. The ascent to the keep, which was once flanked by two massive towers, is very impressive, and, passing through the doorway, the visitor reaches a long avenue, terminated by another doorway, and thence can look into the open area of the ancient “ donjon." Saxon columns and pointed arches are visible, both on the east and south side of the great court, and the deep ditch surrounding the outworks is devoted to the more peaceful art of cookery, as a kitchen garden. The present Bishop of Winchester has made some slight alterations and additions to the structure, erecting a spacious library, and embellishing it with some valuable pictures, shown occasionally to visitors properly recommended. Adjoining the castle is the "Little" Park, comprising about 300 acres, and having a pleasant promenade, formed by an elm grove, which extends across the park for nearly a mile. At an inn called the "Jolly Farmer," in Abbey Street, was born William Cobbett, who has repeatedly testified in his works the interest with which he viewed the place of his nativity. About a mile and a half from the town, through Moor Park, will be found the exquisitely beautiful ruins of " Waverly Abbey," the property of Nicholson Esq., and the curious cavern, known in the vernacular, as "Mother Ludlam's." This is a rare region for an artist to find materials for his sketch-book, and there is for others, icthyologically disposed, some respectable fishing in the Blackwater.

It was at Moor Park that Sir William Temple, a wellknown statesman and miscellaneous writer, passed the evening of his busy life, having the renowned Jonathan Swift, then a young man, residing with him as his amanuensis. Here it was that Swift engaged in a "love affair" with Miss Hester Johnson, a daughter of the steward of Sir William Temple, and the same lady whom he has immortalised under the name of Stella. When Swift returned to Ireland, Miss Johnson, accompanied by another female of maturer age, went to

reside in his neighbourhood, and the unhappy issue of this attachment is well known. Stella, though ultimately united to Swift by a private marriage in the garden of the Deanery, never enjoyed any public recognition of the tie, and she soon after died worn out with wasted hope and blighted anticipations. Ten miles from Farnham is the picturesque village of Selborne, the birthplace of the Rev. Gilbert White, who has, in his "Natural History" of this spot, graphically described the peculiarities of the country round:-"The soils of this district," he says, 66 'are almost as varied as the views and aspects. The high part to the south-west consists of a vast hill of chalk, rising 300 feet above the village, and divided into a sheep down, the high wood, and a long hanging wood called the Hanger. The covert of this eminence is principally beech, the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs." The prospect is vast and extensive, being bounded by the Guildford range of the Sussex Downs, and the Downs round Dorking and Reigate, which altogether, with the country round Alton and Farnham, form a noble and expansive outline. The pedestrian, therefore, who has time to spare, may well be tempted to extend his excursion on to Selborne.

Farnborough Station is only six miles from Farnham, and here the excursionist can come over in the afternoon or evening by a reasonable conveyance, deposit himself in one of the South-Western trains, and be back in another two hours amid the streets and shops of London.