MIDDLESEX.

LITTLE need be said about the county of Middlesex, beyond London. It is rather hilly, and the handsome houses of rich people stand among trees in every pleasant spot, for the suburbs of London stretch far on all sides. Hampstead is one of these pleasant places;

it stands at the foot of a wide, open heath, 430 feet above the sea. Highgate Hill is about the same height, and so is the hill on which the town of Harrow stands, famous for its old Grammar School. Primrose Hill, just beyond Regent's Park, a hill of which the Londoners think a great deal, is not more than half the height of

these. There is some high ground, hills and heaths, in the north, on the Hertfordshire border. After London there are no important towns in the county. Brentford has but one long street on the bank of the Brent. Hounslow stands on the edge of a wide heath of celebrity in other days as a haunt of highwaymen. Uxbridge has a corn market; and Staines is another small town.

Map Questions.

1. What county lies on the opposite bank of the Thames? Name the places, to the west of London, which are upon this river.

2. What counties bound Middlesex on the west, north and east?

ESSEX.

OF Essex, also, little need be said; the coast on the German Ocean is so low, that the sea is only kept out by sea-walls and embankments; and all along the shore were marshes, which have been well drained and made into pasture fields. The Naze is the most easterly point of the county, and stretches out near Harwich, a small bathing-place and packet station, with an excellent harbour. There are many creeks on the coast, the outlets of the rivers. Pleasant uplands, with trees, are scattered over the county. It is a farming county; wheat and other kinds of corn are largely grown; and, near London, are a great many market gardens. There were once large forests in Essex, of which Epping Forest is the largest remaining; it lies upon high ground and is a favourite holiday place for Londoners. Colchester, which is chiefly noted for its oyster fishery, is the largest town. In the persecution under Queen Mary, more than seventy Protestants of Colchester were dragged through London at the end of a rope. At Brentwood, a young boy, named William Brown, was burnt at the stake, and people noticed that the sun lighted up his face as if it had been the face of an angel when he called upon his Lord. Chelmsford, a market town, is the county town.

Map Questions.

1. What tributary of the Thames divides Essex from Hertford ? Name a town on this river. What forest lies near its lower course?

Name five places upon the Thames and its estuary in this county. Notice the sandbanks in the estuary of the Thames; also, notice how the waters of the rivers spread on the low shores.

2. Name three rivers which flow eastward in Essex. Name a seaport town at the mouth of the Stour; a town upon the Colne; a town upon the Blackwater; two towns upon the Chelmer.

3. Name the eastern counties of England. What is their general character?