of Orange at the time of the Revolution; and one of the chambers facing the large pond, and looking at that time down the avenue of fine horse-chesnut trees, still retains the name of King William's bed-room. The original front of the edifice was in the style of Holland House; it was erected in the year 1611, as appears from an inscription on oak now taken down; but the back part, which yet remains, is supposed to have been built by Sir William Temple, and during the time it was occupied by the Palmerston family was called the new part. Sir Thomas Barnard purchased the estate of Lord Palmerston, and rebuilt the principal front at considerable expense with corresponding taste, retaining the cedar floor of the little room at the south corner, where Dean Swift, and other literary friends of Sir William, occasionally employed their pens. Sir Thomas Barnard sold four acres, including the little pond at one side of the estate, to Caroline Countess Dowager of Buckinghamshire, and cut down several of the large trees, particularly the greater part of those which formed the These alterations considerably depreciated the value of the premises in the estimation of those who recollected them in their original state. The consequence has been, that the house, and remaining portion of the land, have been purchased by the Rev. William Pearson, late of Parson's Green, for a young gentlemen's seminary, for which it is admirably adapted; and no expense has been spared in building school-rooms, making gravel walks, forming a play-ground, draining the wet parts, by giving the springs a proper direction in their descent into the pond, planting ornamental fences, and erecting out-buildings to correspond with the magnificence of the house itself, so that at no former period was the estate of more value than at the present moment; and a tasteful use of the axe has given that parklike appearance to the grounds, which leaves but little regret on the mind of those who formerly witnessed the existence of the gloomy avenue. The present possessor has commenced the erection of an observatory over the roof, which, when finished, will have a semi-globular dome moveable on ebony rollers, so as to present its opening to any point in the heavens.*

PUTNEY was honored by Queen Elizabeth with frequent visits which she paid to a Mr. Lacy, of whom Lysons observes, that he has not been able to find any other particulars than that he was a citizen of London, and of the Clothworkers' Company. His house, situated near the river, was rebuilt in 1596, and was the property and residence of the late Mrs. D'Aranda. During the civil war in the seventeenth century, this place became the scene of some interesting transactions. After the battle of Brentford, when the royal army marched to Kingston, the Earl of Essex determined to follow it; a bridge of boats was constructed for the purpose between Fulham and Putney, and forts were ordered to be erected on each side of the river. In 1647 Cromwell, equally jealous of the Parliament and the King, who was then at Hampton Court, fixed the head-quarters of the army at Putney, for the convenience of watching them both. The houses of the principal inhabitants were occupied by the general officers, who, during their residence here, held their councils in the church, and sat round the communion table; but before they proceeded to deliberation they usually heard a sermon from Hugh Peters, or some other favourite preacher.

The chief ornament of this church is a small chapel at the east end of the south aisle, built by Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, the roof of which is adorned with rich Gothic tracery, interspersed with the arms and initials of the founder.

In the church-yard is interred John Toland, the celebrated deistical writer, who had lodgings at Putney during the last years of his life. Here his Pantheisticon, and most of his later works, were composed. A few days before his death, which happened

• The view which accompanies this description exhibits the back front, erected by Sir William Temple, and ornamented by Sir Thomas Barnard with a viranda; which was deemed more picturesque than the principal modern front, however accurately the elevation might be delineated.

pened on the 11th of March, 1722, he wrote an epitaph for himself, descriptive of the singularity of his opinions; but it was not inscribed upon his tomb.

In 1763, a piece of ground contiguous to the road from Wandsworth to Richmond, was given to the parish in 1763 by the Rev. Roger Pettiward, D. D. for the purpose of a cemetery. The most remarkable monument here is that of Robert Wood, Esq. who died in 1771, in his 55th year. It is ornamented with a sarcophagus of white marble, and the inscription was written at the request of his widow by the late Lord Orford. Mr. Wood was a native of Ireland; and in 1751 made the tour of Greece, Egypt, and Palestine, in company with Messrs. Dawkins and Bouverie. On his return he published two splendid works in folio, illustrative of the Ruins of Palmyra and Balbec, being an account of the ancient and modern state of those places, with a great number of engravings from drawings made on the spot. Mr. Wood was meditating similar publications relative to other parts of his tour, when he was appointed under-secretary of state by the late Earl of Chatham, during the whole of whose administration, as well as in that of his immediate successor, he continued in office, Mr. Wood was also the author of an Essay on the Genius of Homer; and left behind him several manuscripts relative to his travels.

The ferry of Putney was of high antiquity, and is mentioned in Domesday Book as yielding a toll of twenty shillings a year to the lord of the manor. In 12 George I. an act of Parliament was obtained for building a wooden bridge at this place. The work was undertaken by thirty subscribers at 7401. each, who purchased the ferry, which produced the owners about 4001. per annum, for the sum of 80001. The bridge, which is 805 feet in length, was begun and finished in 1729, at an expense of 23,9751. The income, two years afterwards, was estimated at 15001. a year, and is now supposed to be about double.

On Putney Heath, at a little distance from the road, a house

was erected in 1776 by David Hartley, Esq. for the purpose of proving the efficacy of his invention of plates for the preservation of buildings from fire. The experiments were several times repeated before their Majesties, the lord mayor and aldermen of London, and many members of both houses of Parliament, with complete success; some of the spectators remaining in perfect confidence and security in the room over that in which the fire was burning with great rapidity. This house is still standing; and near it is an obelisk built by the city of London in 1776, with inscriptions commemorating the invention. Near the obelisk was, in 1796, erected one of the telegraphs which form the communication between London and Portsmouth.

Not far from the Fire-house was formerly a fashionable place of resort for public breakfasts and evening assemblies. The mansion erected on its site still retains the name of the BowlingGreen House, and was for some time in the occupation of that great statesman, the Right Hon. William Pitt, who here breathed his last, 23d January, 1806. On the brow of the heath, which commands a charming prospect over the Thames and the county of Middlesex, are several handsome seats.

Putney had the honour of being the birth-place of NICHOLAS WEST, Bishop of Ely, and THOMAS CROMWELL, Earl of Essex, two eminent statesmen of the sixteenth century, who, though of humble parentage, raised themselves by their merits and abilities to the highest dignities. The circumstances attending the rapid elevation and tragical end of the latter must be well known to every reader of English history.

EDWARD GIBBON was born at Putney in 1737, in the house now the property and residence of J. P. Kensington, Esq. and received the first rudiments of his education at a day-school at this place. His Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the first volume of which appeared in 1776, and which was afterwards extended to six volumes in quarto, has placed him in the first rank as an historical writer, and is too well known to need any remark

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