FULMER, BULSTRODE, AND BURNHAM BEECHES. Buckinghamshire is diversified by country seats, beechen woods, retired villages, and numerous orchards. Its churches are much to be admired, and there are many remains of old monasteries on the banks of the Thames, which is one of the chief ornaments of this county. PEDESTRIAN TRAVELS. THERE is a pretty drive through Stoke to the small and cheerful village of Fulmer. I call it cheerful, because there is such an appearance of comfort and prosperity about it. Everything seems to have been cared for by some superintending benevolence, and consequently there is no outward poverty to be seen; no squalid children are idling about, and the cottages seem, almost without exception, to be in good repair, and neat and comfortable, with pretty flower and kitchen gardens surrounding them. Then there is the residence of the squire, so placed on a little eminence, as if to look down with an air of protection on the more humble inhabitants of the hamlet. There is also the snug parsonage, with some better sort of houses near it, and the picturesque and well-ordered church of an early date in English architecture, having the village school adjoining it. I love these rural spots, and these rural churches. Here we are far removed from the turmoil and business of the world, and may feel that peace and contentment are to be met with. A lesson is also afforded of the good which may be done by the liberality, kind feeling, and taste of one who presides, if the expression may be used, over the welfare of his humbler neighbours. This is shown by the employment given to the labourers, the prosperity they enjoy, and the comfort of their residences. There is, perhaps, no one more to be envied than a country gentleman, who has the power as well as the inclination to do good. In his walks, he is greeted with the smile and look of gratitude, and feels his own happiness in reflecting that he has contributed to that of others. The church he enters on the sacred day of rest, shows some token of his care some offering of gratitude to the Being he worships, and who has caused his own cup to overflow with comforts and blessings. The facility of travelling from one place to another, the gaieties to be met with in our large sea-bathing, and other towns, and various induce ments, have caused many of our villages to be deserted by those who were the natural guardians and friends of their poorer neighbours. These, thus deserted, have gradually been left to their own resources, and thus have led a life of profligacy and plunder. It is a sad picture, but too often a real one. It is time, however, to return to Fulmer. It is approached from a common, which appeared to be rich in its variety of wild flowers, and on arriving at the brow of the hill, you gradually descend to this pretty village. The church is well placed, and in its chancel is a monument which alone would repay the trouble of a visit to see it. It is that of Sir Marmaduke Darell, who is represented in gilt armour, and his lady in a black hood. The epitaph tells us that he was servant to Queen Elizabeth in her wars by sea and land, and cofferer both to James the First and Charles the First. The monument is in the best state of preservation. On quitting Fulmer, there is a pleasing drive to BULSTRODE, much diversified by small copses and beechen-woods. The entrance to the park is very striking, and there is a great inequality in the ground. Many of the fine trees, which so greatly ornamented it, have been felled, but a few of an ancient date still remain. The garden at Bulstrode appears to have been planted about a century ago, and certainly contains some of the finest specimens of exotic trees in England. There are two deciduous cypresses which are perhaps only rivalled by those at the Duke of Northumberland's at Sion, and some fine cedars of Lebanon, amongst which there is one in the park, remarkable not only for its enormous size, but for its peculiar manner of growth, rising from the ground in a cluster of pillared branches. A great number of Weymouth pines were originally planted, some of which are now dead, and almost all in a state of incipient decay, after having attained a large growth, thus showing plainly that this species of pine is a short-lived tree in this country. It is, however, in elegance of form, and softness and delicacy of foliage, exceeded by none. There are some tulip-trees and catalpas standing on the lawns, and the largest Turkey oak I ever saw. I also observed a specimen of a tree not commonly found in the old plantations and shrubberies, which is called the planera Reichardi, which is allied to the elm in its natural order, and of which the gardens at Sion possess, I believe, the largest known in this country. The azaleas have attained an age and size not easily to be paralleled. A closer attention than could be given at the time, would probably discover other speci mens worthy of notice, but there was quite sufficient to excite much interest in these gardens, which had evidently been laid out by the original designer with skill and knowledge, and planted with these ornamental trees, which were at the time newly introduced into this country, and subsequently preserved with great care. The old mansion of the Duke of Portland has been taken down, and the new structure, which was left at the death of the late duke an unfinished shell, is already covered with ivy. A portion of the old buildings attached to the house have been converted into a comfortable residence, where much kindness and hospitality are to be found; but the fine old gardens, from their great extent, and the expence of keeping them up, necessarily have, to a certain degree, an appearance of neglect. The once open lawns have grown into a wilderness of trees, and many of the aged pillars of the wood are mossed by hoar antiquity. The spot on which I stood reminded me of the lines of the poet Stern melancholy sits, and round her throws To a reflective mind there is ever something distressing in witnessing the destruction or decay of a noble residence, with its park almost denuded of trees, its fine herd of deer destroyed, and its gardens, which were once the boast and |