as perfect a combination of the picturesque and the
accessible as can anywhere be found; and there are still the primeval
forests, and the virgin soil, to favor the plans of the artist in
"capabilities." The Duke of Newcastle's party, one of whom was the
Prince of Wales, were not flattering their entertainers when they
pronounced the suburbs of Cincinnati the finest they had anywhere seen.

The groups of villas, each upon its little hill, are the _cities_
before mentioned, five of which are within sight of the young ladies who
attend the liberally conducted seminary of Mount Auburn. The stranger is
continually astonished at the magnitude and costliness of these
residences. Our impression was, that they are not inferior, either in
number or in elegance, to those of Staten Island or Jamaica Plain; while
a few of them, we presume, are unequalled in America. The residence of
Mr. Probasco is the most famous of these. Externally, it is a rather
plain-looking stone house, something between a cottage and a mansion;
but the interior is highly interesting, as showing how much money to the
square inch can be spent in the decoration of a house, provided the
proprietor has unlimited resources and gives himself up to the work. For
seven long years, we were informed, the owner of this house toiled at
his experiment. Every room was a separate study. All the walls are
wainscoted with oak, most exquisitely carved and polished, and the
ceilings were painted by artists brought from Italy. It is impossible to
conceive an interior more inviting, elegant, and harmonious than this.
Thirty years ago the proprietor of this beautiful abode was an
errand-boy in the establishment of which he was afterwards the head; and
when we had the impudence to look into his house, he was absent in
Europe in quest of health! The moral is obvious even here at the end of
this poor paragraph, but it was staggering upon the spot. How absurd to
be sick, owning such a house! How ridiculous the idea of dying in it!

In this enchanting region is Lane Theological Seminary, of which Dr.
Lyman Beecher was once President, and in which Henry Ward Beecher spent
three years in acquiring the knowledge it cost him so much trouble to
forget. Coming to this seat of theology from the beautiful city of
Clifton, of which Mr. Probasco's house is an ornament, and which
consists of a few other mansions of similar elegance, the Seminary
buildings looked rather dismal, though they are b