s to the liquidation of the debts."

~~419~~~ "And an excellent plan for raising the wind too," said Tallyho;
"the example, I suppose, has been taken from Wanstead House."

"Most likely," was the reply; "but if it is true that the disposal of
the property is occasioned by the embarrassment of its owner, it cannot
but excite painful and melancholy reflections on the tenure by which
men hold the goods of this life. Those who were acquainted with Mr.
Beckford's circumstances some years ago, thought him so secured in the
enjoyment of a princely income, that he was absolutely out of the reach
of ill fortune, being at one time in the actual receipt of one hundred
thousand pounds a year. It cannot be said of him that he has wasted his
inheritance at the gaming-table. The palace which he raised on a barren
mountain, the greater part of those vast plantations which surround it,
the collection of books, and of rare specimens of art, and the superb
furniture, which gives such peculiar dignity and splendour to the
interior of his residence, speak at once the immensity of his means, and
attest the propriety and gracefulness of their application."

"We ought to have taken a trip there to have seen this earthly
paradise," rejoined Tallyho; "but now I suppose it is all over."

"Certainly," was the reply; "and it is a circumstance for which the
people in the neighbourhood appear to have been totally unprepared. They
were led to believe, from the beginning, that the mere luxuries of
the place were to be sold, and the public announcement of this had the
effect of filling the county of Wilts with pleasure-hunters from all
quarters. He was fortunate who, for some time past, could find a
vacant chair within twenty miles of Fonthill: the solitude of a private
apartment was a luxury which few could hope for; and an old friend
of mine informs me, in one of his letters, that, coming from London,
travellers first met their troubles about Salisbury, The languages of
France, of Holland, and of Germany, the peculiarities (in tongue) of
Scotland and Ireland, the broad dialect of Somersetshire, the tinckling
accent of Wales, and the more polished tones of metropolitan residents,
were all, at the same moment, to be heard clashing and contending. There
were bells ringing, and chamber-maids screaming--horses prancing, and
post-boys swearing--wheels clattering, and waiters jostling--guests
threatening, and hubbub and confusion the orders of the day:--an