I have no letters of my aunt, nor any other record of her, during her
four years' residence at Southampton; and though I now began to know,
and, what was the same thing, to love her myself, yet my observations
were only those of a young boy, and were not capable of penetrating her
character, or estimating her powers. I have, however, a lively
recollection of some local circumstances at Southampton, and as they
refer chiefly to things which have been long ago swept away, I will
record them. My grandmother's house had a pleasant garden, bounded on
one side by the old city walls; the top of this wall was sufficiently
wide to afford a pleasant walk, with an extensive view, easily accessible
to ladies by steps. This must have been a part of the identical walls
which witnessed the embarkation of Henry V. before the battle of
Agincourt, and the detection of the conspiracy of Cambridge, Scroop, and
Grey, which Shakspeare has made so picturesque; when, according to the
chorus in Henry V., the citizens saw

The well-appointed King at Hampton Pier
Embark his royalty.

Among the records of the town of Southampton, they have a minute and
authentic account, drawn up at that time, of the encampment of Henry V.
near the town, before his embarkment for France. It is remarkable that
the place where the army was encamped, then a low level plain, is now
entirely covered by the sea, and is called Westport. {83} At that time
Castle Square was occupied by a fantastic edifice, too large for the
space in which it stood, though too small to accord well with its
castellated style, erected by the second Marquis of Lansdowne,
half-brother to the well-known statesman, who succeeded him in the title.
The Marchioness had a light phaeton, drawn by six, and sometimes by eight
little ponies, each pair decreasing in size, and becoming lighter in