by few lands in either hemisphere. These are the more striking features of the lovely panoramic scene the eye surveys, when looking westward or northward, from the various elevations, of which there are so many in and near the old town of Lancaster, but the minor beauties are no less worthy of notice, since they comprise, in the happiest combination, all the choice beauties peculiar to English scenery. Vales verdant and of wide extent, affording pasture to flocks and herdswoodlands, here caressing the wavelets of hastening stream or babbling brook, there sheltering the happy homestead of our sturdy yeoman race, or again clothing with leafy beauties the receding hill-side. On the right, and on the left, the scene is varied by the interposition of our Lancashire fyldes-those vast tracts of level surface, where fruitful crops of the staff of life "laugh and sing" their hymns of silent praise to the Almighty Giver of all Good. All this the vision embraces as it surveys the glorious whole, but there are yet hidden beauties, which only the sojourner amid Lancaster scenery can know aught about. The retired dells of post-diluvian existence-those cleft evidences of

GATEWAY TOWER, LANCASTER CASTLE.

(From an Engraving published by Mr. Edmondson.)

the mighty convulsions to which, in remote ages, the surface of our globe was subject-form a delicious feature in the scenery that

Lancaster so justly boasts of, but they are hidden from view, and can only be visited by such as for a season, brief or prolonged, make Lancaster their home.

So far Lancaster scenery. But Lancaster has other attractions, the enjoyment of which would well repay a few days' sojourn. First and foremost is the famous old castle. Nothing can be more imposing than the aspect which that fine old memorial of feudal power and baronial magnificence presents to the stranger, as he ascends the slope which leads from the principal thoroughfare of the town, direct to the frowning gateway of the hoary castle. A look over the ancient pile, always attainable by a magistrate's order, affords much pleasure, and if the visitor desires to see the surrounding scenery of Lancaster to the best advantage let him ascend the Keep, and tarry for a season on that elevated part of the building designated John o' Gaunt's Chair. Then, hard by the Castle is its companion in the honours of antiquity, the beautiful parish church, one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture in the kingdom. From the well-kept church walk of this edifice the spectator commands a far-spread view, the sea presenting itself on his left, the Bay of Morecambe and the surrounding mountains

in front, and on the right the lovely vale of the Lune, the river being spanned at the foot of the town by the handsome stone bridge which connects the town with the suburb of Skerton, and further up the stream by that renowned work of modern masonry, the Lancaster Aqueduct, which, whilst shadowing the deep-running river beneath, carries high

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aloft the waters of the Lancaster Canal. All this the visitor sees without leaving the town, and in addition, there are other objects of

interest, such as the Royal Grammar School, the various churches, the elegant town

hall, and that singularly interesting object of charitable munificence, the Ripley Institute, a building of palatial proportions and of most perfect architecture. A few hours' drive out of the town

reveals a variety of objects, all more or less claiming the tourists' admiration. For example: there is Borwick Hall, the ancient inheritance of the Bindloss family, rendered famous from the circumstance of Lord Clarendon having written his "History of the Rebellion" there, and still more for having been the temporary home of the Second Charles. That fine old hall is now the property of George Marton, Esq., whose charming seat, Capernwray Hall, with its capacious park, stands within a mile or two. Those places visited, the drive may be continued on through Gressingham, over the Lune, direct to Hornby Castle, another feudal pile, famous in the history of the county. On the way home, another interesting relic presents itself in Claughton Hall, a rare old remnant of former greatness. Presuming that the tourist's visit will be in summer time, let him not forget to ask his way to that lovely retreat, Ravenscar, where scenery, new and altogether unique, awaits his gaze. All these objects, and many more, lie within a brief ride round Lancaster; but two hours on the North-Western Railway, will carry the visitor to the far-famed Caves of Clapham, where subterranean wonders, unsurpassed by any similar spectacle, reveal themselves. And whilst in the neighbourhood of these caves, the stranger may stray hither and thither, and find

something to excite interest; for the whole of the country around abounds in antiquities, all more or less connected with the annals of Lunesdale during the period of the Roman occupation. Roman roads, Roman camps, Roman stations, are all there to be found, if a good guide be sought; and such, we believe, is easily found..

Add to these Lancaster attractions, a climate salubrious, and such perfect retirement as more densely populated places fail to afford, and it may be affirmed, that for a few days tarrying on the way to the Lakes and to Scotland, the tourist can find no happier midway halting-place than Lancaster, which, be it observed, by its railroad distance from the metropolis, offers an inducement to repose after the weariness of an eight or ten hours' ride.

Having thus invited the pleasure-seeking portion of the public to visit the good old town, which enjoys the peculiar honour of giving to the English crown its second and much-valued title, the chronicler is required to tell the stranger where and how he is to be taken care of when the invitation is accepted. That want can easily and conscientiously be supplied. About five hundred yards from the station of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, and about twice that distance from the station of the North-Western portion of the Midland Railway, stands one of the most comfortable family hotels to be found in any part of the United Kingdom. It is Sly's King's Arms Royal Hotel-claiming its title to royal patronage from the circumstance of the late lamented Queen Adelaide having made it her home during the time she honoured Lancaster with a visit. Beneath the roof of this famous hostelrie, other royal personages have received entertainment and enjoyed the comforts of an English home. The Prince of Wales, with his suite, but recently did the King's Arms the honour of sojourning within its walls, and more remotely-that is, at the close of the long Bonapartean war-the crowned heads of Europe became its guests. The inn has indeed acquired world-wide fame, from the circumstance of the author of "Nickleby" having sojourned at it for a considerable time, and so charmed was Mr. Dickens with his entertainment that he devoted a portion of Household Words to its praises. This will be found in the October (1857) part of the periodical-Nos. 395 and 396-and forms an episode in the story of "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices." The author imagines a bridal chamber in the hotel, and says

"I have heard there is a good old inn at Lancaster, established in a

good old house: an inn where they give you bride-cake every day after dinner,' said Thomas Idle. 'Let us eat bride-cake without the trouble

of being married, or of knowing anybody in that ridiculous dilemma.' Mr. Goodchild, with a lover's sigh, assented. They departed from the station in a violent hurry (for which, it is unnecessary to observe, there was not the least occasion), and were delivered at the fine old house at Lancaster, on the same night. Mr. Goodchild concedes Lancaster to be a pleasant place, a place dropped in the midst of a charming landscape, a place with a fine ancient fragment of a castle, a place of lovely walks, a place possessing staid old houses richly fitted with old Honduras mahogany."

Again we read of the interior

"The house was a genuine old house of a very quaint description, teeming with old carvings and beams and panels, and having an excellent old staircase, with a gallery or upper staircase, cut off from it by a curious fence-work of old oak, or of the old Honduras mahogany