"Neither was it mine adversary that did mag

66 nify himself against me; for then peradventure

"I would have hidden myself from him:

"But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, "and mine own familiar friend."

I assented to the propriety of the present application of the passage, and added a wish that Heaven would avert from the transgressors the malediction which immediately followed his quotation.

I am, my dear Sir,

Your's sincerely,

R. W.

MY DEAR SIR,

W

Plymouth-Dock, Aug. 2.

E had been recommended to the London Inn at Ashburton, kept by Mr. Lloyd, the intelligent ciceroni of the place; and had hoped under his guidance to have visited the many beautiful spots in the neighbourhood of the town. But, alas! we found his family sorrowing for the

loss of a tender husband, an affectionate father, and a sincere friend; seeking consolation, however, in their grief from the recollection that he had left behind him "the everlasting memorial" of a good name, and carried to his "dread abode" the fair testimony of an upright, beneficent, and useful life. Should the separation of connections be deemed so overwhelming an evil as it usually is, when such is the solace of those who are spared, and such the passport of the departed? No! let nature and affection have their tribute; but let not the claims of reason and religion be disregarded. To sorrow as those without hope, for the virtuous dead, is ungratefully to refuse the cup of comfort mingled by Heaven for the survivor, and selfishly to regret the certain felicity of "those who have died in the LORD."

Disappointed in our hope of finding a guide who would have conducted us to whatever was remarkable in the neighbourhood of Ashburton, we were left to our own researches, which, though less successful than they might have been under the direction of one who was better acquainted with the country than ourselves, were, notwithstanding, far from unproductive of entertainment to us. In the course of our ramble we visited the leadmine, recently opened on the heights of Dartmoor, about two miles to the north of the town, where a

*

hundred men are employed in raising and dressing ore, worth, in its rough state, we were told, 30%. From hence we stretched across to the

per ton.

Dart, and viewed, though at a distance, Buckland in the Moor, the seat of - Bastard, esq; and Spitchwick-park, one of the Devonshire residences of Lady Ashburton, situated on the edge of the Moor, at the distance of five miles from Ashburton. Both these elegant places are indebted to the scenery of the Dart for their most striking beauties. Here, indeed, this celebrated river begins to assume its characteristic charms, and to exhibit all its varieties of rock, wood, and precipices; the hills now receding in gentle acclivities from its tranquil surface; and now hemming in, and frowning over, its exasperated waters. Perhaps there are few residences in the kingdom (with the exception of Chatsworth) more marked by the agreeable effects of contrast, than the two just mentioned; commanding views of the richest diversity, in the immediate neighbour. hood of dreary wastes.

The town of Ashburton affords little to engage. attention. It is partly situated in a bottom, stretching up the sides of the hills to the east and west. Being one of the four Stannary towns for the tin mines of Devonshire, it seems to have been. a place of some consequence in ancient times. Together

with Plympton, Tavistock, and Chagford, it sends its Jurats to the occasional meetings of the Mining Parliaments, held at Crockern Torr, a high hill in the center of Dartmoor, where the legislative business of the Devonshire tin mines is transacted. Formerly the concerns of this assembly were important, as well as numerous: but little, save the form of the meeting, now remains.

The circumstance of its modern history, which reflects the greatest credit upon Ashburton, is that of its being the birth-place of John Dunning Lord Ashburton; and well may it be proud of a production of such rare value, and extensive utility, of a man of such great natural powers, and unusual acquirements. The general knowledge of the late Lord Ashburton was as solid as diversified; and his acquaintance with every branch of human information that bore upon his profession, as clear as it was profound. To these endowments he added an eloquence ready, exuberant, and animated; which, though its full effect was a little obstructed by a trifling defect in manner, never failed to enchain the attention, to captivate the mind, and to convince the judgment. Perhaps one of the happiest compliments ever paid to a man for the possession of this enchanting faculty, was a reply of Dr. Johnson's, on a little recital of Mr. Boswell's, which respected