From the river bank let us turn up into Esher, on the high ground above it. If this be styled a village, it is a village of much dignity, beset by mansions and villas, and looking conscious of courtly patronage, for at the farther end it has the park of Claremont, residence of more than one royal family, and now occupied by the widowed Duchess of Albany. Here died the lamented Princess Charlotte, whose husband afterwards became the first king of the Belgians. Here ended the eventful life of Louis Philippe. In the Church, that raises its graceful spire beside the cross-road leading up from the river, there is a monument to King Leopold, also a bust of the late Duke of Albany. The old church, by the main road, was disused more than half a century ago; and the graveyard of the new one has had time to gather a good show of memorials, among them the tomb with recumbent effigies erected for himself in his lifetime by Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls. Samuel Warren, author of _Ten Thousand a Year_, is also buried here, as may be seen by any cycling Tittlebat Titmouse. The sisters Jane and Maria Porter lived for a time at Esher, as did William and Mary Howitt. But the literary fame of Esher should rest on its identification with the Highbury of Jane Austen's _Emma_, a matter which I am prepared to prove against those inconsiderate and presumptuous theorists who vainly put forward Leatherhead for such honour. The only scrap of evidence they have is the occurrence of the name "Randalls Park" near Leatherhead. It is a note of this beloved author--caviare as she may be to the general--that she did not put herself out of the way in christening her characters and scenes. Some of the names in _Emma_ seem to have been suggested to her by tombstones opposite her seat in Chawton Church. At Esher _Weston Green_ may well have prompted her "Mr. Weston"; and _Weylands_ would easily become "Hartlands." It might be thought far-fetched to connect _Sandown_ with "Donwell Abbey," if one did not know that there is a well of old note beside the racecourse, and that Sandown was originally a priory. Now for more positive marks of identity. "Highbury" is in Surrey, and on a hill. The description of the Donwell grounds (chap, xlii.) exactly fits the banks of the Mole, which lies a Georgian lady's "twenty minutes' walk" below the place. This is introduced as being a large village, almost a small town. The market town (iv.) is Kingston; and Cobham is spoken of as within a walk. It is sixteen miles from London (_passim_), where Frank Churchill rode to get his hair cut; nine miles from Richmond (xxxvii.); and seven miles from Box Hill (xliii.). The only one of these distances that does not quite suit Esher is the last; but then the mileage would no doubt be minimised to soothe Mr. Woodhouse's fidgety concern for his horses; and who can say that they were not to be put up at the "Running Horse" of Mickleham, a mile or two short of the scene which Mrs. Elton desired to explore?