VOL. X, No. 289.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1827. [Price 2d.
Bushy Park.
[Illustration:]
Among the suburban beauties of the metropolis, and as an attraction for
home-tourists, Bushy is entitled to special notice, independent of its
celebrity as the retreat of royalty--it being the residence of _His
Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence_, an accurate portrait of whom will
be presented, to our readers with the usual _Supplementary Number_ at
the close of the present volume of the MIRROR.
_Bushy Park_ is an appendage to the palace and honour of Hampton Court;
and though far from assimilating to that splendid pile, it is better
fitted for rural enjoyment, whilst its contiguity to the metropolis
almost gives it the character of _rus in urbe_.[1] The residence is a
handsome structure, and its arrangement is altogether well calculated
for the indulgence of royal hospitality--a characteristic of its present
distinguished occupant, as well as of that glorious profession, to the
summit of which his royal highness has recently been exalted. The park,
too, is well stocked with deer, and its rangership is confided to the
duke. The pleasure grounds are tastefully disposed, and their beauty
improved by the judicious introduction of temples and other artificial
embellishments, among which, a naval temple, containing a piece of the
mast of the Victory, before which Nelson fell, and a bust of the noble
admiral, has been consecrated to his memory by the royal duke, with
devotional affection, and the best feelings of a warm heart.
[1] The Duke is a good economist of time; for what with excellent cattle
and the glory of Macadamized roads, his R.H. comes to town in the
morning, transacts his official business at the Admiralty, and
frequently returns to Bushy to dinner.
The park is a thoroughfare, and the circumstances by which this public
claim was established are worthy of record, as a specimen of the justice
with which the rights of the community are upheld in this country. The
_village Hampden_, in the present case, was one Timothy Bennet, of whom
there is a fine print, which the neighbours, who are fond of a walk in
Bushy Park, must regard with veneration. It has under it this
inscription:--"Timothy Bennet; of Hampton Wick, in Middlesex, shoemaker,
aged 75, 1752. This true Briton, (unwilling to leave the world worse
than he found it,) by a vigorous application of the laws of his country
in the cause of liberty, obtained a free passage through Bushy Park,
which had many years been withheld from the public." Regeneration (or
the renewal of souls) is, however, a shoemaker's _forte_.
The above engraving of Bushy is copied from an elegant coloured view,
drawn by Ziegler, and published by Griffiths, of Wellington-street,
Strand.
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