[9] See MIRROR, No. 390.
The old Tower on the Downs no longer exists. A Tower designed for an
observatory has been erected near its former site, which is fitted up
with several large telescopes, and a camera obscura, to which the public
are admitted. This Tower which is seen in the engraving, stands, as
stated, on an extensive Roman camp, or fortification. It would have been
difficult to have selected a more appropriate situation for such a
building; for the combination of picturesque and sublime scenery, united
with the beauties of art, is no where more enthrilling to the mind than
at Clifton.
Clifton Hot Wells has long been celebrated as a watering-place.
Smollett, in his "Humphry Clinker," has given a very interesting picture
of its society in the middle of the last century. Clifton is now,
however, considerably neglected. Omnipotent fashion has migrated to
Cheltenham, though no comparison can be made with Clifton on any other
score. The natives of the Emerald Isle, indeed, since the introduction
of steam navigation, come in crowds to the Hot Wells.
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