>. -y T"*- - ! >- 
 
 V J* ■ - ^ 
 
Ulrich Middeldorf 
 
cC 
 
 HISTORY or DESCRIPTION, 
 
 GENERAL AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SEAT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 THE EARL OF EXETER. 
 
 Here thy well ftudy'd Marbles fix our eye, 
 A fading Frefco here demands a figh ; 
 Each heav'nly piece unwearied we compare, 
 Match Raphaels grace, with thy lov'd Guide's air, 
 Carracce's ftrength, Corregio's fofter line, 
 Paulo's free ftroke, and Titian's warmth divine* 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY J AND W. SDDOWIS. 
 
 Sold alfo by T. N. Longman, Paternofler Row, Cadeil ani 
 Davies, Strand, B. and J, White, Fleet Streetj and 
 Favxdeb, Bond Street, Lgnton* 
 
 1797. 
 
THE J ^AUi GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 HENRY CECIL, 
 
 EARL OF EXETER, LORD BURLEIGH, 
 
 LL. D. AND RECORDER OF STAMFORD, &c. 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Grossly fhouia i abufe 
 
 the generous indulgence, which your 
 Lordfhip has been pleafed to grant 
 me, of laying the prefent trifle at your 
 Lordfhip's feet, did I fufFer myfelf to 
 be carried away by a fulfome torrent 
 of panegyric, fo common to the wri- 
 ters of the laft and prefent age, in 
 their Dedications, and fo odious, I am 
 convinced, to a Nobleman of your 
 Lordfhip's unaffected greatnefs of mind. 
 
 For 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 For praife to operate on the wife 
 and great, it fliould be offered up by 
 the hand of a matter, and a high 
 prieft of the Mufes alone; but, as 
 the Author's merit, if he has any, is 
 not equal to the hundredth part of 
 your Lordfhip's difcernment and kind- 
 nefs, and his pen, in fo delicate an 
 attempt, feems bereft of both fenti- 
 ment and language, he fimply requefts 
 the favor of being permitted to in- 
 form the world at large, with how 
 much efteem and gratitude, he has the 
 honor of fubfcribiilg himfelf, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your Lordfhip's moft obedient, 
 
 and very highly favored, Servant. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Though Mr* Harrod has 
 
 afferted, in the introduction to his Hiftory of 
 Stamford, which was publijhed in 1785, that he 
 conceived his Defcription of Burghley Houfe, and it's 
 exquijite Paintings, which he introduced there, would 
 greatly enhance the value of that work, we find 
 little, upon a careful perufal of it, either to juflify 
 or anfwer it's Author's expeftation. 
 
 The Eiftory or Defcription of Burghley Houfe, 
 however, as it is given in his fecond volume, and 
 not Stamford, will now come under confederation ; 
 and this, notwithflanding the ajji/lance it derived 
 from that garrulous old Gentleman Mr. Peck, in 
 his Defiderata Curiofa, Mr. Howgrave, and others^ 
 is fo highly defective and erroneous, that it flill 
 leaves a large portion of this rich mine of Curioftties 
 unexplored. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 To call forth the various fplendors of this 
 Mine, and to fet them in their proper arrays is the 
 arduous de/ign of the prefent little piece \ which, 
 though it come very far Jhort of perfection, exhibits 
 a more neat r elegant, and extenfive defcription of 
 the Palace of Burghley than any, I humbly con- 
 ceive, that has ever yet appeared* Whatever the 
 defecls of the preceding Authors on this fubjeft, 
 however, may be, the obligations I owe them are, 
 indeed, very great ; for, though I may have laid 
 the various parts of this literary Jlruclure with 
 fome fymmetry, a very confiderable part of the rough 
 materials has been furnijhed for me by their hands* 
 I have not only comprifed almofl all that Mr. 
 Harrod has already written on this fubjefl, in a 
 more cor reft and elegant fly\e\ but adopted into my 
 text many of the crude notes, which his colleague, 
 Mr. Lowndes, a furgeon of Stamford, prefented him, 
 arranging them in a more polijhed and methodical 
 manner. 
 
 Though my acknowledgments to Lord Orford, 
 Mr. Peck, and others, are likewife highly due, it is 
 necefjary to obferve, that 1 was permitted to reftde at 
 Burghley, for three weeks, in which time I took of 
 every thing a general memorandum ; fo, that the 
 greater quantity of matter, which forms the fubftance 
 ef the prefent volume, is flill really new and ori- 
 ginal, and, therefore, more immediately the Author's 
 
 own* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 own* In the difcuffion of fo lively a Theme, I 
 have no where, I conceive, been betrayed into dulnefs ; 
 and, as a writer's digrejfions, if natural and not 
 far fetched, compofed of animated fentiments and 
 cbfervations, are the mo/2 pleajing illuflrations of plain 
 faffs, the reader will find a vein of this kind, which 
 pervades the whole work. Happy Jhall I be, if this 
 vein be deemed both rich and fterling, as it is evidently 
 a vein, from which neither Mr. Harrod nor Mr. 
 Lowndes, the furgeon, hath drawn much ore nor 
 much blood* 
 
 To the ingenious gentlemen, hoivever, of th* 
 
 art of painting my befl apologies are to be offered, 
 for my want of technical /kill, and the very unfatifi* 
 faff or y manner, in zuhich, I am afraid, I have fet 
 forth the paintings of Burghley ; but, as I have 
 
 endeavoured to atone for it, by fome decorations of 
 Jlyle,* I hope they will, with all their criticifm, 
 
 throw this defect out of view, into the back grounds^ 
 
 or jhady fide of the Work, 
 
 * When the Author fpeaks of the decorations of ftyle, 
 he alludes to the advantage, which his own performance, from 
 fuperior attention to the fubject, may be fuppofed to poffefs 
 over the performances of others, who have written upon 
 it in a very hafty, confufed and inaccurate manner. As good 
 and bad are terms merely relative, the reader may form his 
 judgment, in this refpeft, by a careful and impartial perufal of 
 each, and all, of thefe. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 BuRGHLEY HOUSE, the feat 
 ef the Right Honourable the Earl of Exeter, fo long 
 the admiration of tafte, Hands in the County of 
 Northampton, about a mile from the venerable old 
 Town of Stamford, in Lincolnshire; and, though 
 it has been built more than two hundred years, it fecms 
 not, as yet, to have felt the devaftations, or, if we 
 may be allowed the expreflions, the furrows or wrinkles 
 of time. 
 
 It was reared, as Mr. Peck informs us, in his 
 c| Defiderata Curiofa," all in free ftone ; and, extending 
 North, Eaft, Weft, and South, completes a beautiful 
 
 b parallelogram, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 parallelogram, when meafured by the inner court, of a 
 hundred and ten feet by feventy. A parallelogram is its true 
 ftiape-, which, as preceding authors of the Hiftories of 
 Burghley have omitted to mention, we now fet down with 
 becoming precifion. From ancient times to the prefent, 
 both antiquaries and hjftorians have written it Burleigh, 
 affixing to different orthography exactly the fame found. 
 It was fometimes written Burwell; and, fometimes, 
 Burley, the manner in which the Earl of Winch else a 
 fpells the name of his contiguous feat of Burley, on 
 the hill. To put it, however, entirely out of difpute, 
 the Earls of Exeter commanded its true fpelling to 
 be carved in the arched ceiling at the weftern entrance, 
 in the year 1577; and carved it was, accordingly, in 
 relievo Burghley, and not Burleigh, 
 
 It is faid, by the author quoted above, to have 
 been bought of King Edward, (by whom we imagine 
 he means Edward the Confeflbr) for eight marks of 
 gold, by Leofric, Abbot of Peterborough, in 1063 ; 
 and, as the mark is but thirteen millings and fourpence, 
 the amount of the fum given for it, when multiplied 
 by eight, is juft five pounds fix millings and eight 
 pence ; a price fo fmall, in modern days, even for 
 ordinary matters, that fcarce a lawyer would think it a 
 proper fee. 
 
 In Doomfday Book, it is faid to have been thus 
 defcribed. 4 In Burglea tenet Goisfridus tres vergatas 
 terre de abbate. Terra eft ii carrucatarum, in dominio 
 eft una ; et iii fervi, et vij villani cum i bordario : 
 habent i carrucatam. Ibi fex acre prati, et iii acre 
 
 filvar. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 3 
 
 ilivar. valuit x foltdos ; modo xi folidos:' the fenfe of 
 which is thus rendered in Englifh ; * Go is fr id holds 
 three virgates of land in Burgle of the Abbot. All 
 the lands amount to two carrucates ; one is in demefne, 
 and three fervants and feven villains, with one bordarius : 
 they have one carrucate, there are fix acres of meadow, 
 and ten acres of wood, formerly let for ten millings, 
 now for forty millings. 
 
 Such is the barbarous latin of thofe days, and 
 fuch the t confufcd tranflation of no very clear nor ele- 
 gant antiquarian. The words virgates, carrucates and 
 bordarius are now fo obfolete, that a modern dictionary 
 can fcarce explain them. 
 
 The author, however, goes on by quoting Hugo 
 Candidus, who fays, that Geoffry de Winton 
 is chief tenant in Burlee. William of Burglee 
 holds three hides, and one virgate and a half in 
 Northamtonscire, to wit in Burglee and Arm- 
 istone. As a hide of land is explained, 44 fo much 
 as might be ploughed with one plough within the 
 compafs of a year, or fo much as would maintain a 
 family^" three hides could, certainly, have been no 
 very contemptible eftate. 
 
 Wifhing to render the following (beets as enter- 
 taining as pofTible, we fhall not detail all the dry, 
 uninterelting matter, which the labour of tedious anti- 
 quarians have amafTcd on this fubjecl; bat pafs imme- 
 diately on to the period, when Burghley flrft came 
 into the poileifion of Richard, the father of Sir 
 
 b 2 William 
 
4 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 William Cecil, who was created Baron of Burgh- 
 ley, in 1571, by his fovereign Queen Elisabeth. 
 
 In 1360, fays my author, Thomas Spofford, 
 Vicar of St. Andrews, in Stamford, and others, 
 entailed the lands of Robert Wyks, Lord of 
 Burgh ley, to the children of the faid Robert 
 fucceffively, viz. Edmund, Nicholas, and Thomas, 
 which iaft was Lord of Burghley, and had a nu- 
 merous iflue. This gentleman, having a fon named 
 Garvis, who was chief magiftrate of Stamford in 
 1 40 1, he fucceeded of courfe to the Manor of Bur- 
 leigh; as did alfo, Henry, his grandfon, who was 
 a Vicar of All Saints, and who died in 1508. 
 Margaret, his coufin, however, who fucceeded him, 
 fold the manor, at laft, to Richard Cecil, the father of 
 the famous treafurer and founder. Mr. Peck obferves, 
 that the family of this great man was defcended from 
 one in Wales, and that the firft of them, whom we 
 read of, is Robert Sitsilt ; who, in the reign of 
 William Rufus, helped to conquer Glamorganshire; 
 but that his name, according to Vertegan, was de- 
 rived from the Roman Caecilii. But a rofe, as 
 Shakespear remarks, by any other appellation, would 
 fmell as fweet; and as it is out of the power of ety- 
 mology to diminifh the founder's reputation, it is more 
 obvious to enquire of his habitation than name. 
 
 A vulgar error having ftarted up of late, that Burgh- 
 ley House was built, at the Queen's expenfe, for which 
 Mr. Peck has given too much caufe, it will be well to 
 adduce his Lordfliip'sf own words, in refutation of fuch a 
 
 charge. 
 
History of burghley house. $ 
 
 charge. In one of his letters, dated 1585, he fays, 
 i My houfe of Burghley is of my mother's inherit- 
 ance, who liveth, and is the owner thereof, and I 
 but a farmer ; and for the building there, I have 
 fet my walls upon the old foundation. Indeed, I have 
 made the rough ftone walls to be fquare, and yet one 
 fide remaineth as my father left it me.' 
 
 No one, who confiders the obvious exigencies of 
 government, and the great policy, as well as avarice 
 of Elisabeth, will fuppofe this, notwithstanding the 
 Lord Burghley's great deferts, at all probable. The 
 wifli of a wife fovereign to diftinguifh a favourite 
 will always be checked by a fenfe of prudence ; and, 
 whether the Queen herfelf, if we calculate her mere 
 private fortune, were fo well able to build Burghley 
 House as the Treafurer, is, indeed, not very clear,, 
 If the public money be expended on a fubjeel:, whofe 
 fervices deferve reward, it is necefTary to gain that 
 public's confent ; but, if without, it is an evident 
 inflance of injuftice ; fo that, at any rate, the per- 
 million of the Privy Council, if not of the whole 
 Legiflature, is requifite to fan&ion fo extraordinary a ftep. 
 In this manner, we conceive the edifices and poffeffions 
 of Blenheim were bellowed upon John Duke of 
 Marleorough ; and every other prefent of the Crown 
 upon a fubjeel, fince Prerogative has been properly defined. 
 The intereft of fovereign and people is fo infeparable, that 
 the flatefman or general, who deferves well of the for- 
 mer, deferves well of the latter ; and where there is 
 a mutual participation of benefit, there feems alfo in 
 each, an equal title to reward him ; but even to 
 imagine that the people of thofe days, who were jufl; 
 
 b 3 beginning 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 beginning to grow rich, fhould concur with any fore- 
 reign to exalt one fubjedt fo eminently above the reft, 
 is, we conceive, to imagine a *vain thing. 
 
 If her Majefty, however, was thus liberal to her 
 Treafurer, the Lord Burleigh, what becomes of her 
 jultice to her fecretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, 
 who literally died fo poor, that he fcarcely left enough 
 to bury him ? If it be a&ed, where the old founda- 
 tion was, to which Lord Burghley alludes in his 
 letter, we reply, the old foundation of the Minfter of 
 Burghe, which the Abbot of Peterborough for- 
 merly held. On this place a Monaftery once flood, 
 which, with its lands, reverting to the Crown, were, 
 by Queen Elisabeth, granted to William Cecil, 
 Baron of Burghley, in whofe pofterity it ftiil con- 
 tinues. 
 
 The remains of the Minfter of Burghe are ftill 
 vifible, in the line old Gothic hall, chapel, and kitchen, 
 on the Eaft fide, at Burghley; which, however, 
 are fb elegantly united to what the Treafurer then reared, 
 as at prefent to harmonize with it, in a moft natural 
 and agreeable manner. It was, we are informed, of the 
 order of St. Bennet, and called, from the name of 
 the Church, the Convent or Priory of St. Michael. 
 It was founded in 1156, by William Waterville, 
 Abbot of Peterborough; and diffolved in 1539, 
 after a celibacy of almoft four centuries, at the 
 time, we apprehend, when all the Convents were de- 
 moliflied by Henry the Eighth. The original old 
 deeds and feals, relating to this facred fpot, are depo- 
 sed 
 
HISTORY OF 1 BURGHLEY HOUSE. 7 
 
 fitcd in the poiTeflion of the fiarls of Exeter, who 
 have been, for many years, its true and lawful pro- 
 prietors. 
 
 John Thorpe, a capital artift, in the reign of 
 Queen Elisabeth, is faid to have given the plan of 
 Burghley House, Burley, on the hill, the Earl 
 of Winchelsea's, and fome other noblemen's feats, 
 being planned by the fame perfon. By the favour of 
 the Earl of Warwick, the indefatigable Horace 
 Walpole, the prefent Lord Or ford, has been en- 
 abled to bring this perfon to light, who, he obferves, 
 deHgned or improved mod of the principal and 
 palatial edifices erected in the reigns of Elisabeth 
 and James the Firit, though even his. name was 
 totally forgotten. 
 
 By the fame aft of condefcenfion, he was cm- 
 powered to point out a volume of drawings of that 
 individual architect, who has left a folio of plans now 
 in the poffeflion of the fame Earl. fi There are," fays 
 Lord Or ford, " not many uprights, but fevcral 
 ground plans of fome of the palaces and many of the 
 feats of the nobility extant, erected or altered at that 
 period. Of fome he names himfelf the author ; of 
 others, he either defigned, fupervifed, or propofed al- 
 terations; though, according to the negligence of that 
 age, he is not circumftantial in particulars. There are 
 ground plans of Somerfet Houfc, of Buckhurft Houfe, in 
 Suflex, an immenfe pile ; of Woolaton ; Copthall ; 
 Burleigh Houfe ; Burleigh on the Hill, (the Duke of 
 B u c k 1 n g h a m's ; ) Sir Walter Cope's, now Holland 
 b 4 Houfe, 
 
8 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Houfe, at Kenfington : Giddy-Hall, in EfTex; 
 Audley Inn ; Ampthill, (now called Houghton) and 
 Ampthill old Houfe, another fpacious palace, in which 
 Catharine of Arragon fometime refided, and of 
 which he fays he himfelf gave the plan of enlarge- 
 ment ; and Kirby, of which he laid the fir fl ftone in 
 15-0. The tafteof all thefe (lately manftons," continues 
 the author, " was that baftard ftyle which intervened 
 between Gothic and Grecian architecture ; or which 
 perhaps was the ftyle that had been invented for the 
 houfes of the nobility, when they firft ventured, on the 
 fettlement of the kingdom, after the termination of the 
 quarrel between the Rofes, to abandon their fortified 
 dungeons, and confult convenience and magnificence.; 
 for, I am perfuaded, that what we call Goihic archi- 
 tecture was confined folely to religious buildings, and 
 never entered into the decoration of private houfes. 
 Thorpe's ornaments on the balluftrades, porches, and 
 outfides of windows, are barbarous and ungraceful, and 
 fome of his vaft windows advance outwards in a fharp 
 angle ; but there is judgment in his difpolitions of 
 apartments and offices, and he allots molt ample fpaces 
 for halls, ftaircafes, and chambers of ftate. He appears 
 alio to have reflded at Paris, and even feems to have 
 been employed there, at leaft he gives alterations for 
 the queen mother's houfe, Faber St. Germains, which 
 I fuppofe means the Luxembourg in the Fauxbourg St, 
 Germain, and a plan of the houfe of Monfieur Jam- 
 met. 
 
 <c There are feveral other fmaller feats and houfes, in 
 the book, fome with the names of the gentlemen for whom 
 
 they 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. | 
 
 they were built. One, which he calls Cannons, his 
 Father Fake's houfe ; and another is a whimfical edifice 
 defigned for himfelf, and forming the initial letters of 
 his name I T conjoined by a corridore (which I have 
 cxprefled by the dotted lines, and explained by this 
 curious triplet, 
 
 Thefe two letters I and T, 
 Joined together as you fee, 
 Is meant for a dwelling-houfe for me ; 
 
 JOHN THORPE, 
 
 u .The volume, however," fays the author, u is a 
 very valuable record of the magnificence of our an- 
 ceftors, and preferves memorials of many fumptuous 
 buildings, of which no other monument remains. There 
 is a draught alfo of the chapel of Henry the Seven th, 
 which he fays coft 14,0001." 
 
 Thefe obfervations, as far as they relate to Burgh- 
 ley, feem to partake of both truth and en or. Who- 
 ever has attentively furveyed the ftyle of archite&ure, 
 which prevails in the inner court, which we ih all foon 
 defcribe; and the three orders, out of the five, of the 
 Grecian, on the Eaftern fide ; the Doric on the Weft ; 
 and the Gothic on the North and South ; will, perhaps, 
 in this refpedl, alTent to their propriety and truth : but, 
 whether he will to his opinion of the barbarous and 
 ungraceful appearance of the ornaments, on the balJuf- 
 trsdes, porches, and outfides of the windows, is with 
 us a matter of fome doubt. It is well for men, that 
 they are not all fo lharp-fighted to imaginary defects, 
 as the owner of Strawberry Hill, whofe exceffive tafte 
 mull, in fome inftances, be found to terminate in 
 
 abfolute 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 abfolute difguft. It is probable > however, from our 
 experience of this noble manfion, that the judgment 
 which he allows the architect, in all his edifices, in 
 his difpofitions of apartments and offices, halls, flair- 
 cafes, and chambers of ftate, it is a conceffion very 
 juftly granted. Whatever is Lord Or. ford's opinion 
 of Thorpe as an architect, he will be found a prince 
 of the art, when compared to Sir John Van br ugh, 
 in the reign of Queen Anne, who was yet fo ap- 
 proved by the Court, that he was chofen to build 
 Blenheim Houfe, which is reprobated in every point of 
 view by the author. 
 
 How well Thorpe has fucceeded In this flruc- 
 ture is evident from the length of time it has been 
 preferved from decay ; and from the ffrength and dura- 
 bility it ftill feems to predict. We may fpeak of it as 
 a great Englilh poet fome where fpeaks of Homer, 
 
 " In years it feems, but not impaired by years.'* 
 
 In this palace, and that of Theobalds, the 
 writers of Elisabeth's reign inform us, that the 
 Lord Treafurer kept an honourable and orderly, though 
 an expenfive, table. Here he was ferved by men of 
 quality ; as moll of the principal gentlemen of Eng- 
 land fought to prefer their fons and heirs to his fer~ 
 vice. Twenty of them, worth iocol. per annum* 
 attended upon him. His ordinary men were worth 
 3, 5, 10, or 20,ocol. each. According to them, who it 
 is mod probable exprefled themfelves by allegory, his 
 harveft 1 ailed every day for above thirty years together; 
 wherein he allowed fome of his fervants the fame courtefy 
 
 Boa* 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. t » 
 
 Boaz granted to Ruth, viz. to glean even among 
 the fheaves ; and humanely fuffered fome har.dfuls to 
 fall on purpofe for them, whereby they raifed great 
 eliates. 
 
 As we mall digrefs a little upon the Lord Trea- 
 furer in its proper place, we mall now proceed upon 
 the prefent fubjecl, the Hiftorv of Burgh let; and 
 endeavour to do all poffible juftice to thofe curiolitics 
 and reliques of art, with which the zeal and ingenu- 
 ity of his pofterity have been pleafed to embellifh it, 
 
 SECTION 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT II. 
 
 It is paft difpute, that fome of the moft 
 magnificent ftruc~tures, the moft magnificently embellifhed, 
 are to be found in the free and commercial kingdom 
 of Great Britain ; for, where can magnificence fo boldly 
 exalt her head, as in a land of opulence and freedom ? 
 To fpeak in minute terms, therefore, of a fabrick, 
 evidently one of the moft fplendid in all Europe, which 
 William the Third, as we are informed by Mr. 
 Peck, a hundred years ago, pronounced much too 
 gorgeous for a fubjec% and where every thing, both 
 without and within, cries aloud for invelligation, is our 
 attempt, though perhaps a very arduous one, in the 
 prefent work. 
 
 As it probably appears, to authors of good talents, 
 too trivial to confine them to the fubjecT: of the finglc 
 houfe of any individual nobleman or gentleman, it is 
 generally left to thofe who can write upon nothing 
 elfe ; and hence it is, why fo few productions of this 
 kind poiTefs either merit or amufement. Like barren 
 
 hand . 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. X j 
 
 hand-polls, on Bagfhot Heath or Finchley Common, 
 they Teem, indeed, to point us out a way ; but, on 
 the journey, enliven us with no fentimcnt, and regale 
 us with no obfervation. If, therefore, we differ from 
 all our predeceffors who have trod in thefe by-paths, 
 it is to efcape the brambles, which incommode them ; 
 and to render our excurlion to the reader both plea- 
 fant and agreeable. 
 
 The reputation of Burghley, co-operating with 
 its vicinity to Stamford, which Hands on the great 
 public North road, attracts great multitudes of foreign- 
 ers to view it ; and it is not a little amuiing to ob- 
 ferve, as we have, fometimes, a young couple, juft in 
 their honey-moon, on their return from Scotland, frifk 
 about and divert themfelves here, while the old people 
 are fcolding them at home. 
 
 As foon as a ftranger has gone about a furlong 
 and a half to the left out of St. Martin's, as he leaves 
 Stamford, he finds himfelf at the bottom of a venerable 
 grove or villa of old oaks, the contemporaries of the 
 houfe, which lead on towards the park. So thickly 
 are they fet, and fo clofely intermingled are their 
 boughs, that they form, even at noon-day, a d«rknefs 
 vifible ; and, at the other end, of confiderable diftance, 
 a fort of twilight, like the glimmering of a fmall 
 taper. What Druids, in the old fuperftitious times, 
 have wandered here we know not ; though the neigh- 
 bouring inhabitants, every Sunday, explore them, as they 
 go towards the park, the place of their ufual Sunday's 
 recreation. 
 
 The 
 
14 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 The land is not, exactly in this fpot, either bold 
 or rich ; and rather offends, than captivates the eye, 
 with one uniform, continued fiat. As fcon, however, 
 as we get to the park wall, afcending a ftyle of a 
 few Heps to the right, it begins greatly to improve ; 
 and, while we leave the melancholy moping knell of 
 Stamford behind, perceive our road wind gradually up 
 a gentle afcent, encompaffed by a number of fine trees, 
 difpofed with great elegance and grandeur. The nu- 
 merous herds of deer, droves of fpotted cows, and 
 flocks of Spanifh fheep, which rife up on all fides, to 
 greet us, form a fine picture of antediluvian blifs ; and, 
 while imagination is amufed, through the trembling 
 foliage, by tranfient and perfpective views of this mag- 
 nificent abode, the projector appears, with great tafte, 
 to delay the gratification of that curiofity, which he fo 
 ingenioufiy excites. It opens, however, upon us, at 
 Jail, from the North -Weil, with a fort of gloomy, 
 terrific grandeur ; and the variety of turrets, towers, 
 and cupolas, with which it is adorned on all fides, 
 fecm rather to befpeak the folemn decorations of a 
 Gothic temple, than the more fnug and familiar cm- 
 foellifhments of a modern houfe. So far hath ornament 
 been made fubfervient to utility, that the chimnies, 
 which, as they are too frequently built, manifell an 
 air of infignificance, are all formed at Burgh ley 
 in the fhape of huge doric pillars, elegantly con- 
 nected at top by a freeze and cornice of the fame ; fo 
 that they appear more fuitable conductors for the fumes 
 of flaming cenfers, than for the noxious fmoke of lefs 
 facred fuel. 
 
 Some 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. i£ 
 
 Some have compared Burghley house, when 
 Tiewed at a diftance, to a neat fmall town ; nor does 
 the comparifon, upon a clofe infpecYion of all its parts, 
 appear forced or far-fetched. The obje&ion which an 
 elegant contemporary author made to it, with other 
 old houfes, that it was reared behind a hill, and does 
 not command Stamford, as it might, feems, in a great 
 meafure, overcome ; as its profpecl is now evidently 
 improved, and takes in, between a very natural villa, 
 a North-Weft view of the fteeple of St. Martin'* 
 church, in that town. 
 
 On the South fide of Burgh ley, we obferved 
 a young artift, feated on one of the banks of the 
 river, and endeavouring to take a draught of it; 
 but the obje&ion, which was raifed by Mr. Peck, 
 to the drawing of Lancford, from the South, that 
 he fat upon the ground, and was not, for that reafon, 
 fo well able to take the chapel fpire, the towers, and 
 pinnacles, of the proper fize, may, we imagine, with 
 equal propriety, be made to that from the hand of 
 this gentleman,, 
 
 Here it may be well to paufe for fome time ; 
 and, while the artift is intent on his pencil, to con- 
 template an objecl, with which, in our intercour/c 
 through life, we do not meet very often. No palace 
 of either fovereign or fubjecl: excites ideas of the fub- 
 lime or beautiful, we apprehend, in a more eminent 
 degree. The fab rick of Blenheim, or even Stow, fo 
 long the theme of poets and connoifleurs, does not, in 
 fome refpecls, whatever may be due to the beauty of 
 
 their 
 
l6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 their grounds, fo highly infpire veneration. In afpe£t> 
 a lighter Caille of fome anient Baron, it feems to 
 control the fcene on which it ftands ; and, mocking 
 the viciflitudes of nature, defies the howling hurricanes 
 from without. Cromwell, when he beheld it, for- 
 getting his rage for deitruction, paid it that obeifance, 
 which the fupreme conqueror of Macedon once Ihewed 
 to the high prieft of the Jews ; and, charmed with its 
 magnificence, difplayed his republican generofity, by 
 depofiting his own pi&ure among thofe of its fine 
 collection ! 
 
 Here then, with permiflion, will we enter; and if, 
 ©h ftranger, the cares of life lit heavy upon your heart, 
 may you be able to difpel them ; and, while you gaze 
 upon thefe exquifite productions of art, experience, at 
 leafl, a tranfient mitigaion of forrows. 
 
 Within the large circle, defcribed by the high 
 iron rails and iron gate, before the North door, which 
 is the proper front, there formerly flood a large piece 
 of water; but, as foon as Mr. Brown had formed the 
 beautiful Terpentine river, which now adorns Burgh- 
 ley, it w<is, with his ufual difcernment, filled up ; 
 and gave way to the round green, as an embellifhment 
 more pleafing and natural. Had the family no induce- 
 ment from tafte, they had, it feems, from experience, 
 to effect; this ; as the death of one of the preceding 
 Earls was occafioned by a cold, which he caught in 
 lingering too long about his ponds. 
 
 Though 
 
KISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 17 
 
 Though the general approach is by the porter's 
 lodge, here is the proper entrance for the carriages of 
 men of high rank, as the coach road goes quite round 
 the grafs plat, forming the circumference of about a 
 furlong ; and, from the gate to the fteps, the diftance of 
 about one hundred and ten yards. On each fide of the 
 north door is a platform, extending ninety by eighteen, 
 each way, which, with the intermediate breadth of the 
 threfhold, completes a front of near two hundred feet. 
 It is by an afcent of nine large femi -circular fteps, 
 that we now enter the houfe ; which, in the middle, 
 on this fide, forms the fegment of a circle, by pro- 
 jecting, with a fort of cumberous grandeur, a great 
 way, from the very foundation to the roof. The great 
 hall, at the entrance, is forty four by twenty eight, 
 and fupported by twelve Ionic columns of Sienna 
 Scaglioli ; the fides of which are adorned with that 
 compofed of Brocatello. The pavement is very hand- 
 fomely laid with fmall fquares of black and white 
 marble ; which extend in triangular chequered lines, 
 refembling the furface of a board of drafts or back- 
 gammon. 
 
 Nearly oppofite the great door, and a little on 
 the right of that which opens from the middle court* 
 Hands a figure of Bacchus, which the late Earl, at a 
 great expenfe, purchafed at Rome. Among the many 
 Bacchus's of the antients, it would be difficult to fay 
 what Bacchus this is, as Apollo and he, by the Ro- 
 mans, were generally drawn young ; but, by the Greeks, 
 the lad under each ftage of life, as they fuited him- to 
 the four fcafons of the year. In the coins of the 
 
 c ThebanSa 
 
1 8 HISTORY OF BUHGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Thebans, Nax^ans, and Thafians he appeared old, 
 under whicK form, they called him, not Diony- 
 sius, but Zacreus. The figure of Bacchus, how- 
 ever, as here reprefented, though well proportioned, 
 fcarce exceeds five feet above the pedeftal ; which is 
 itfclT three feet two inches in height. His right arm, 
 in the hand of which he holds the cup, appears to 
 have been joined to his body at the moulder, from 
 which it was formerly lopped off. Similar accidents 
 feem to have happened to his left thigh, left writt, 
 and right knee : no bad emblems of fome of thofe 
 difafters to which too many of his votaries are ex- 
 pofed. It appears, in fhort, as if we could trace the 
 antiquity of Bacchus, like the valour of an old 
 Roman, from the number and variety of his wounds. 
 
 On the left of the hall, is a large commodious 
 parlour, in which the late Earl was accuftomed ta 
 refide. With fix fine niches in the fides, it contains 
 a very excellent organ ; which, when played of a Sun- 
 day, attracts a great concourfe of ilrangers to the 
 park gate : on the right is the Earl's Library, which, 
 if it be not as large as fome public Libraries, pro- 
 ceeds from there being another, equally large, in the 
 fame houfe. In this, befides a great number of elegant 
 authors, there are feveral manufcripts and maps, and, 
 with a line buft of Sir Joseph Banks, the Prefident 
 of the Royal Society, a very excellent Air Pump, 
 upon a . large fcale, with all the requifite apparatus. 
 As we mall fpeak of this Library, in detail, upon a 
 future occafion ; we fhall now haften to the centre of 
 the middle court, in order to view all the beauty and 
 
 magnificence 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. i<j 
 
 magnificence there. The eaft fide, then, as it is 
 viewed from hence, is the moft grand and fuperb of 
 the four, as it exhibits three diftincl: orders of archi- 
 tecture, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian, 
 rifing one above the other, with large niches on each 
 fide. Juft above the Corinthian, which is the 
 uppermoft of the three, the eye is flruck with the 
 fight of two flone Lions rampant, the fupporters to the 
 family arms, ten or twelve feet in fize, which, with 
 paws advanced, feem to fupport a dial, hardly interior 
 to one of the iargeft cathedral ! Leaving the lions at 
 its bafe, the fpire of the chapel tapers up from hence, 
 for many, very many feet more ; and fo admirably is 
 it put together, that it is fcarcely in the power of the 
 beholder, with the Iargeft magnifying glafs,. to difcem 
 the adhefion or connection of its feparate Hones. Juft 
 above the dial, the date of the Year 1585, in which 
 this part of the pile was finifhed, is affixed in large 
 gilt figures very legibly expreffed ; which, when 
 deduced from the prefent year 1797, will prove it 
 juft two hundred and twelve years of age. There is, on 
 this fide, before the chapel, juft over the arched gate 
 way below, an arch of nearly the fame fize ; in which 
 is placed the buft of King William the Third. 
 
 As the pillars and their torufTes, at the 
 oppofite weftern end, are of the plain Doric, we fhall 
 fay but little of them ; neither fhall we be prolix on 
 the north and fouth fides of the court, the windows 
 of which are of the pure modern Gothic. Four ca- 
 pacious gateways, with four parallel correfponding 
 folding doors, behind them, on the four fides, face 
 
 c 2 each 
 
HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 each other; each extending in an elliptical arch about 
 nine feet in breadth and the fame in height. Between 
 four fmall plats of well mown grafs, a regular Itonc 
 walk extends from and to each, according to the fize of 
 the parallelogram. 
 
 Four faces had the dome, and every face, 
 Of different ftrudture, but of equal grace 5 
 Four brazen gates on columns lifted high # 
 Salute the different quarters of the (ky. 
 Here fabled Chiefs in darker ages bom, 
 Or Worthies old, whom arms or arts adorn, 
 Who cities rais'd, or tam'd a monftrous race, 
 The fourfold walls in breathing ftatues grace 5 
 Heroes in animated marble frown, 
 And Legiflators feem to think in ilone, 
 
 POPE. 
 
 The tops and corners of the balluftrades of the 
 building, which are elegantly light, are adorned on all 
 the fides, with fmall Doric flone veffels, here and 
 there, in the fhapes of urns and water pots ; which, 
 perhaps, receive no little ornament, in their turn, from 
 the grey mofs with which time has lire wed them. 
 
 Some fire works being exhibited at Burghley, 
 a few months ago, the Earl was requefied by the 
 conductors, to permit them to be let off in the inner 
 court, as a fituation that would mow them, enclofed 
 as it is, on all fides, to more advantage than the 
 ihrubbery or park ; but, as the moll diftant poflibility 
 of danger to fuch a houfe ought to outweigh a thoufand 
 probabilities of fafety, the Earl, very properly, thought 
 it prudent to refute them* Had Elisabeth and the 
 
 Lord 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 21 
 
 Lord Burghley difcufled their fchemes of ftate in 
 this middle court, they would, in all probability, have 
 feemed, to a perfon in the attic ftory, from its great 
 height, like the mere murmuring furges, which break 
 at the bafe of Dover Cliff. Having premifed thus 
 much of the fubjec"t, we mail now ferioufly invoke the 
 kind reader's attention to the reft ; and conclude this 
 effay to our noble patron with that enthufiaftic fenti- 
 ment of Virgil to the great Maecenas. 
 
 Tuque ades, Inceptumq; una decurre laborem, 
 O decus, 6 famse merito pars maxima noftrae, 
 Maecenas, pelagoqj volans da vela patentu 
 
 SECTION 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 In going to fee the houfe, fays Mr. Peck, 
 ftrangers were formerly conducted to a room below 
 flairs, where were the pictures of the then Earl and 
 his friends, the nobility and gentry of the neighbour- 
 hood. This room, he obferves, was called Bedlam, 
 and the company Bedlamites ; being a fociety, founded 
 by that Earl's grandfather, in an innocent frolick, which 
 has been, fays he, ever fince, till of late, kept up, with 
 much elegance and mirth. Every perfon, on his ad- 
 miflion, was accultomed to fend his own picture, in 
 which was drawn the figure of the bird or beaft, 
 which, for the fake of diftinction or humour, he chofe 
 to be called after. On feftivals and birth days, they 
 all met together, by themfelves. At which times, by 
 the ancient ftatutes of the order, which I have feen, 
 fays Mr. Peck, if any gentleman called a brother by 
 any other name than that of the bird or beaft in his 
 picture, he was liable to a penalty of five millings, 
 which was given to one Mr. Clarke, an antient 
 decayed gentleman, then fecretary of the order. When 
 
 any 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 23 
 
 any member died, after his piclure had been removed, 
 the gilded frame taken off, and a black one put on, 
 it was hung up in a room called dead Bedlam ; and 
 then a riew brother was named in the place of the 
 deceafed. 
 
 Though this extraordinary inHitution may defervc 
 fome comment, when a ftranger has thus furveyed the 
 entrance, his admiration will be more forcibly excited, 
 by being introduced to the principal dining parlour, 
 through the inner court, than by immediately turning 
 on the left, and proceeding to it by the way of the 
 cloifter. As foon as the door is opened at this end, 
 he mull be ilruck with the four finely fluted Corin- 
 thian pillars at the other, richly gilt, with all the 
 magnificent utenflls within them ; and which, fet- 
 ting off an apartment of 40 feet by 26, adds na 
 little ornament to itrengtlu 
 
 From the pillars to the wainfeoat, we meafured 
 an area of about twelve feet ; in which the high 
 mahogany fideboard, with a large filver fountain, and 
 two filver cifterns of a beautiful oval, are principally 
 confpicuous. The value of the fmalleft ciftern is com- 
 puted, by Mr. Harrod, at the fum of 165/. and 
 its weight at 600 cz. or 41 lb. avoirdupois : that of the 
 largeft at 825/. and its weight alfo at 3000 cz. or 
 1 c<wt. 3 qrs. 9 lb. Both are adorned with two Lions, 
 the family fupporters, in folid filver, one at each end, 
 in proportion to its fize ; the laft of which is fo 
 enormous, that it reminds us of thofe brazen lavers, 
 
 c 4 which 
 
2+ HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 which were formerly placed in the outer court, of the 
 temple at Jerufalem, for the purification of the Jews. 
 
 A maiden lady of the family, (for, indeed, what 
 cannot maiden ladies fometimes perform,) is faid to 
 have prefented this rich piece of plate to one of the 
 deceafed Earls ; but, as we do not recolle6l it men- 
 tioned by Mr. Peck, we conceive it has not remained 
 quite a century in its prefent flation. Whether the 
 lady, by introducing it, intended to refrefh herfelf and 
 friends, by an occafional dip, it is hard to fay ; though, 
 in former times, when dwarfs attended on the great, 
 it would have been no difficult matter to drown them 
 in it. It is fuppofed the larger! piece of plate in all 
 Europe ; and, with the weight of its four filver feet, 
 quite fufficient to ftagger the powers of an Arabian 
 camel. It fcems, indeed, by the fwollen and plethoric 
 projection of both its fides, to have been made by the 
 dimenfions of a City Alderman of five feet nine, juft 
 after a Lord Mayor's feaft ; or by thofe of the Lord 
 Mayor himfelf, after an indolence of twenty years, 
 when he has contracted that fufquepedality of belly, 
 which Yorxck imputes to the corporation of Dr. Slop. 
 Without a fiction, Sir John Falstaff, when eluding 
 the purfuits of the jealous Ford, might have con- 
 cealed himfelf in it for fome time. 
 
 Befides thefe vefTels of filver, which, like thofe of 
 an antient altar, fland always ready for facrifice, there 
 are four large dimes of gilt crown-plate, which feem their 
 conftant companions; and, at firft, a metal of ilill more 
 precious original : on either end of the fideboard, within the 
 
 pillars, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 2 y 
 
 pillars, are difpofed two urns of excellent mahogany, which 
 are lofty and finely carved ; and, though they exhibit no 
 fplendour, add a very modeit and unaffected grace upon 
 the objects between them. At night, when the lights of 
 the wax candles and different luftres are reflected from 
 thefe, and the rich gilding of the pillars, the illu- 
 mination of the whole may eafily be conceived ; 
 nor will the five fine pictures in this apartment, even 
 at that time, lofe much of their art or beauty. 
 
 Paulo Mattei, the artift who drew the fine 
 piece at the bottom of the room, called The Progrefs 
 of Time, is faid to have been a Neapolitan ; and, 
 though a great painter, remarkable for the inequalities 
 of his attempts ; a circumftance often incident to men 
 of genius. The prcfent, however, we conceive obnoxious 
 to no fuch criticifm ; and difplays, upon canvafs, the 
 fame fine morality, which the elegant pen of Addison, 
 in his celebrated Vifion of Myrza, does upon paper. 
 Concluding his mortal career, he, at laft, became a 
 prey to the progrefs of that time he had fo finely 
 difplayed in the act of mowing down all before it, 
 in 1728, at the age of 67. 
 
 Next to this is the Wife Men's Offering, by 
 Bass an. Over the mantle- piece, jult oppofite the fa- 
 mily, when at dinner, is an exceeding fine picture of 
 game ; over which, a very exprefiive refembiance of an 
 old pointer, who feems the fire of a long race of fons, 
 appears to prefide. On the right of the iideboard, is 
 the reprefentation of Diogenes, the famous cynic 
 philofopher, breaking the cup, upon feeing a boy drink 
 
 out 
 
afi HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 cttl of his hands. However trifling fuch an incident 
 may appear to conltitutc a fine picture, the artift has 
 been by no means deficient in his attempt. It is re- 
 eruifite, however, in order to perceive one part of its 
 merit, to underftand the leading features of his cha- 
 racler ; fuch as his affectation of appearing to live in a 
 tub r his furly reply to Alexander the Great, and 
 feme others. Immediately over the fideboard itfeif, 
 the fountain and filver citterns, we muft now pay our 
 refpecls to Bonatti de Ferrara, for the linking 
 manner in which he has here depicted, in a very large 
 piece, the pafTage of the Children of Ifrael through 
 the Red Sea. There is, we conceive, fcarcely a dining 
 *oojxl in the kingdom, efpecially in fo ancient a fabrick, 
 fit to be compared with this, for either elegance, fize, 
 fyrnrnetry, or magnificence ; though the ceiling of a 
 very few may be a little more lofty. 
 
 From room to room, and from one door to ano- 
 ther, the paffages are all commodious and regular ; nor 
 do we recoiled any of thofe little, abrupt, and dif- 
 torted entries, which too often disfigure old hcufes, 
 o^herwife pronounced fine. Regularity, however un- 
 pleafant in laying out grounds, is always a beauty in 
 architecture ; and of this regularity we cannot exhibit 
 a ftronger prccf at Bucrhley, than by faying, when 
 the doors of all the feparate apartments, on every fide, 
 are flung open wide, that the eye is capable of taking 
 in every thing in a ftraight line, as far as that line 
 will go. Many a fine houfe is compofed of a fort of 
 patch-work, in which the elegant part ftares at the 
 deformed, as if they were born under different cli- 
 mates. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 2 ; 
 
 mates, and defigned for different ends. But here beauty 
 feems, in every part, to g> hand in hand with grandeur 
 and utility ; and it is curious to obfervej thst my Lord 
 Bacon, in his Effay upon what he calls a conve- 
 nient houfe, appears to plan it, in many refpe&s, like 
 the prefent. 
 
 We were much ftruck, in being witneffes to a 
 ilorm of wind and rain, which defcended upon it, and 
 at the fublime effects with which it was attended on 
 all fides. The ftone-work and the leads reverberating 
 the impetuous mower, in fo many different directions, 
 produced a found as awful as the equinoxial thunder; 
 while the very weight of its Gothic roof, by the 
 element that fell on it, could Hot but excite fome- 
 fhing like apprehenfion. 
 
 SECT. 
 
28 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 ON PAINTING IN GENERAL. 
 
 J^S the greater part of the His- 
 tory of Burghley confifts of an account of pictures, 
 it will not be foreign to the nature of the prefent 
 work, before we proceed further on it, to give a fhort 
 but imperfect epitome of the art of painting in general ; 
 and then as we find it in the earlieft ages of this 
 country, tracing it down to the prefent. 
 
 Painting is faid to have had its rife among the 
 Egyptians : and the Greeks, who learned it of them, 
 if we may believe the ftories related of their Apelles 
 and Zeuxis, carried it to its perfection. If it arofe 
 among the Egyptians, the abfurd ftory of the daughter 
 of Dibutades, a potter at Corinth, having discovered 
 the art by drawing the lines of her lover's fhadow 
 againft the wall, as he flept by lamp light, proves a 
 mere fable. 
 
 It has been afTerted, that the ancients, inftead of 
 drawing the imagination, like the moderns, through 
 
 uninterefting 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 29 
 
 vmintcrefting links of fucccffive ideas, by feveral mi- 
 nute expreflions of the pencil, collected all its powers 
 to one itrong point or paflion; and that, a3 one forci- 
 ble expreflion has more power in affecting the foul, 
 than feveral that are weak, in this their excellence, in 
 fome meafure, was fuppofed to lie. When we arc 
 told that the Venus Anadyomene, or Venus rifmg from 
 the fea, painted by Apelles, was fold for I9,375^ 
 Englifh, it excites our admiration of ancient art, 
 though the picture on the fame fuhjecr, at Burgh ley, 
 painted by Titian, lb eminently famous, awakes 
 nearly the fame fentiments. 
 
 Of moderns, the Romans were not without con- 
 fiierable mailers in this att, in the latter times of the 
 republic, and under the firft emperors ; but the inundation 
 of barbarians, who ruined Italy, proved fatal to painting, 
 and almoft reduced it to its firft elements ; nor was it 
 recovered in Europe till the age of Julius If. and 
 Leo X. This lail revolution in the hiftory of paint- 
 ing has given occafion for diftinguifhing it into ancient 
 and modern. 
 
 The ancient painting comprehends the Greek and 
 Roman : the modern has formed feveral fchools, 
 each cf which has its peculiar character and merit. 
 It was in Italy, however, that the art afterwards re- 
 turned to its ancient honour, and about the middle of 
 the thirteenth century, when Cimabue, born at Flo- 
 rence, A. D. 2140, betaking himfelf to the pencil, 
 tranllated the poor remains of the art, from a Greek 
 painter or two, into his own country : he was fecond- 
 
 a 
 
3 o HISTORY OF BU'RGHLEY HOUSS. 
 
 ed by fome Florentines* The firft who got any rcpu- 
 tation was Ghirlando, Michael Angelo's matter, 
 born in 1449 ; Pietro Perugino, Raphael Ur- 
 bin's mailer, born in 1446; and Andrea Veroc- 
 chio, Leonardo da Vinci's matter, borr. in 1432. 
 But thefe fcholars vaftly furpaffed their matters ; they 
 not only effaced all that had been done before them, 
 but carried painting to a pitch from which it has 
 ever fince been declining. It was not by their 
 own noble works alone, that they advanced paint- 
 ing, but by the number of pupils they bred up 
 at the fchools they formed. Angelo, born in 
 in 1474, in particular, founded the fchool of Florence ; 
 Raphael, born in 1483, the fchool of Rome ; and 
 Leonardo, born in 1445, the fchool of Milan ; to 
 which, mull be added, the Lombard fchool, eftablifhed 
 about the fame time, and which became very confider- 
 able under Giorgione, born in 1477, and Titian, 
 born alfo in 1477. Bcfides the Italian matters, there 
 were other very great ones, on this fide the Alps, 
 who had no communication with thofe of Italy ; fuch 
 were Albert Durer, in Germany ; Holbens, in 
 Switzerland, Lucas, in Holland ; and others in France 
 and Flanders ; but Italy, and particularly Rome, was 
 the place where the art was praflifed with the greateft 
 fuccefs ; and, where, from time to time, the greateft 
 matters were produced. To Raphael's fchool fuc- 
 ceeded that of the Caraccios, which has latted in its 
 fcholars almoft to the prefent time ; wherein the 
 French painters, by the munificence of Louis the 
 Fourteenth, feem almoft in a condition to vie with 
 thofe of Greece or Italy. It mull be acknowledged, 
 
 that 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 that paintings in oil are liable to decay and fade; 
 whereas the vehicle, whatever it was, ufed by ahe 
 ancient?, gave their works an advantage over thofe of 
 the moft celebrated moderns, in point of duration.. 
 Pausanias defcribes the paintings in the Poikile, at 
 Athens, without the leafr. intimation that they were 
 decayed or faded, in the courfe of fix hundred years ^ 
 and the ancient picture called the Aldobrandine Mar- 
 riage, now to be feen in the palace of that name at 
 Rome, continues to this day a fine picture, though* 
 probably, painted two thoufand years ago. Ecfides the 
 vehicle of the ancients did not change or corrupt the 
 pigments tempered with it : the Aldobrandine Marriage 
 and thofe at Herculaneum being evidences to this pur- 
 pofe. The art of painting in oil was .unknown to 
 the ancients, as writers on this fubjeel: have generally 
 fuppofed ; and the invention of it has been uniformly 
 afcribed to a Flemifh painter, one John Van Eyck* 
 or John de Bruges, who is faid to have firft difcovered 
 and put it in practice, in the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century, or about 1410. Before his time all the 
 painters wrought in frefco, or in water colours. A 
 late writer has produced feveral arguments to prove^ 
 that painting in oil was known, if not to the an- 
 cients, long before the pretended difcovery of John 
 and Hubert Van Eyck. The claims of this 
 artilt are founded on the teftimony of Vasari, in his 
 lives of the painters, firft published in 1566; a writer 
 who was neither a contemporary nor countryman of 
 Van Eyck, as he wrote and pnbliihed his book, one 
 hundred and fifty years after his death. Before Vasar i's 
 time it does not appear, that any Flemifh or Dutch 
 
 hiftoriaB 
 
32 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 hiftorian has afcribed this invention to their country- 
 man, nor among the high encomiums on John Van 
 Eyck, as a painter, in his epitaph in the church of 
 St. Donat, at Bruges, is there any mention of his 
 having invented oil painting. Betides, inilances occur, 
 that are recorded by feveral writers, of Flemifh oil 
 paintings, which were executed before the time of the 
 fuppofed inventor: and Mr. Horace Walpole, now 
 Lord Or ford, in his " Anecdotes of Painting in 
 England," has produced fome unqueftionable facts, 
 which prove, that oil painting was known and pracYifed 
 in this kingdom long before the time in which Van 
 Eyck is reported to have invented it in Flanders. 
 Among feveral arguments and facts, to the fame pur- 
 pofe, it is alledged that Theophilus, in a treatife 
 u . De Arte Pingendi," difcovered in the library of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, who is fuppofed to have 
 lived in the tenth or eleventh century, defcribes the 
 method of making linfeed oil for the ufe of painters, 
 and gives two receipts for making oil varnifli. 
 
 Mr. Vertue had taken great pains to prove 
 that painting exifted in England, before the reiteration 
 of it in Italy, by Cimabue 1250. That we had 
 gone backwards farther in the fcience almoft than any 
 other country is evident from our coins, on which 
 there is no more of human fimUitude, than an infant's 
 firft fcrawl of the profile of a face ; and fo far, therefore, 
 as badnefs of drawing approaches to antiquity of 
 ignorance, we may lay in our claim to very ancient 
 pofleffion. The earlieft place in a catalogue of Eng- 
 lifh painters is due to St. Wolstan, Bifhop of Wor~ 
 
 <?cfter, 
 
HISTORY OP BUftGHLEY HOUSE. 33 
 
 -seller, in 1062, or at leaft to Ervenius, or Erwen, 
 his matter. The firft evidences in favour of the art 
 are drawn from our records, which Mr. Vertuf 
 had carefully consulted, When he found the following 
 entries. 
 
 " MCCXXVIII A°. 12 Hen. 3 m. i. Rex thes. 
 et earner fuis falutem. Liberate cuidam piclori 20s. 
 ad cameram magni fcaccarii depingendam." And again* 
 "MCCXXXItl Liberate A°. 17 Hen. 3. m. 6. Man- 
 datum eft Vicecomiti Southon, quod cameram regis 
 lambrufcatam de Caftro Winton. depingi faciat eifdem 
 hiftoriis et pitfluris quibus fuerat prius depi&a. Et 
 cuftum, &c. cbmputabitur. Tefte Refge apud Kider- 
 minlter. 3 die Junii." 
 
 Somfe Antiquaries, however, have afefibed the 
 introduction of painting, into this iflahd, to the vener- 
 able Bede. In Aubrey's MS. furvey of Wiltshire, in 
 the library of the Royal Society, he fays, on the autho- 
 rity of Sir W. Dugdale, that the firft painted glafs 5 
 in England, was done in King John's time. It is 
 faid, that the original copy of Matthew Paris, with 
 miniatures, in the Britifh Mufeum, was certainly a 
 prefent to this King from the Author. From thefe 
 few teftimonies, and many which we are obliged to 
 pafs over, it appears that Henry III, was a great 
 tncourager of the arts. 
 
 From the reign of Henry III* Mr. Vertue 
 could dlfcover no records relating to the Arts for 
 fcvera! reigns* During the reigns of the two fir£ 
 
 » Edwards, 
 
34 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Edwards, I find, fays my author, no veitiges of the 
 art, though it was certainly preferved here, at leatl 
 by painting on glafs. In that of Edward the Firft, 
 however, Bi/hop Lanoton built a palace and hall, at 
 Lichfield, in which was painted the ceremony of the 
 coronation. Of the third Edward, fays Mr. Vertue, 
 many portraits are preferved at Windfor, in illuminated 
 MSS. and elfewhere. As he has not marked where 
 thefe limnings exift, I can give no account of them 
 myfelf, nor refer the reader to the infpeftion of them* 
 But there is a portrait taken from a bull of the fame 
 age, the face of which is far from being executed in 
 a contemptible manner. It reprefents that artift and 
 patron of the Arts, William of Wickham, Bifhop of 
 Winchefter, and Prime Minifter to Edward the Third. 
 The Black Prince was reprefented on glafs, in a window 
 at the weft end of Weftminller Abbey ; and Mr. 
 Onslow, the late Speaker, had a head of the fame 
 Prince, which there is great reafon to belkve was 
 painted at the fame time. The perfon of Richard 
 the Second is fUll preferved in the moft lively manner, 
 in. two different pictures. The firft, a whole length, 
 in the Abbey of Weftminfter ; the other, at the Earl of 
 Pembroke's, at Wilton, a fmall piece confiding of two 
 tablets, on which are reprefented the King kneeling, 
 accompanied by his patron faints, &c. To the bottom of 
 this piclure are affixed thefe words, 4C Invention of 
 painting in oil, 1410. This was painted before in the 
 beginning of Richard the Second, 1377, &c." 
 
 The painters, employed by Henry the Third, 
 appear to have been Italians ; and, yet it is eafy to 
 
 vindicate 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. ^ 
 
 vindicate the fecret of painting in oil from them, $ 
 lead I can prove that they mult have found the pra$ 
 tice here, not have brought it over with them ; for 
 we are told expreftly, that in Italy they kriew of no 
 fuch method. When fome of John ab Eyck's 
 pictures were carried to Alphonzo, King of Naples, 
 the Italian painters were furprifed, fays Landrart, 
 " quod aqua purgari polTent coloribus noil deletis." 
 Henry IV. is extant at Hampton Court, in Hereford- 
 mire, formerly his palace, a copy, or duplicate of which 
 is at Kenfington. The fine eaft window, in the 
 Cathedral of York, was painted in this reign * at the 
 expenfe of the Dean and Chapter ; who contracted with 
 John Thorkton, glazier, of Coventry, to execute if, 
 and mews how able an artift he was, Henry V. is 
 likewife painted on boardj at Kenfington, and on 
 vellum in fome MS. 
 
 In the reign of Henry the Sixth* our field 
 begins to grow lefs barren. Many portraits of the 
 King himfelf are preferved, as on board at Kenfington, 
 and on glafs, in the chapel of King's College, Sir W. 
 Dugdale has incidentally preferved fome memorials 
 of the ftatc of painting, in the reigns of our earlieft 
 princes. Henry VI. himfelf, I fuppofe, had no taftc 
 for the Arts —the turbulent ambition of his Queen left 
 her as little. In this reign John de Wethamsted, 
 Abbot of St. Alban's, a man of great learning and 
 merit, adorned the chapel of our lady there, with 
 various paintings; as he did the fides of the church, 
 and his own lodgings ; under all which paintings he 
 caufed mottos and inferiptions to be placed. The 
 
 n 2 portraits 
 
3 6 HISTORY Of BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 portraits on glafs, in the windows of the college of AH 
 Souls, at Oxford, were painted in his reign. 
 
 We find but fmall traces of the Arts having 
 flouriftied under Edward IV. His picture on -board, 
 ftiff and poorly painted, is preferved at Kenfmgton, 
 The whole length of him at St. James's, in a night- 
 gown and black cap, was drawn many years after kis 
 death by Belcomp. Few charms can be difcovered 
 in his' favourite Jane Shore, preferved at Eton, and 
 probably an original. There is another portrait of her 
 in the Provcift/s Lodge, at King's College, Cambridge. 
 It is painted on board, and, from the meannefs of the 
 execution, feems to be original. Richard the Third 
 appears in another old piclure at Kenfington. Names 
 of Artifts in thefe reigns, of which even fo few authen- 
 tic records exift, arc not to be expected. 
 
 Henry VIL being neither oftentatious nor libera!, 
 genius, of couffe, had no favour from him. He reigned 
 as an attorney would have reigned, and would have 
 preferred a conveyancer to Praxiteles. Though painting 
 in his age had attained its brighteft epoch, rio tafte 
 reached this country. 
 
 The accemon of Henry VIII. brought along with 
 it the' eftablimment of the Arts. He was opulent, 
 grand, and liberal — how many invitations to artifts! 
 A man of tafte encourages abilities; a man of expenfe 
 any performers ; but, when a king is magnificent, 
 whether he has tafte or not, the influence is fo exten- 
 five, and the example fo catching, that even merit has 
 
 a chance 
 
HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 37 
 
 a chance of getting bread. Henry had feveral pain- 
 ters in his fervice ; and, as Francis invited Prima- 
 t ice 10 and other mailers from Italy, he endeavoured 
 to tempt hither Raphael and Titian. Some per- 
 formers he did get from that country, of whom we 
 know little but their names. Jerom di Trevisi 
 was both his painter and engineer ; and, attending him 
 in the latter quality to the liege of Boulogne, was 
 killed at the age of thirty fix. Johannes Corvus 
 was a Fleming. A ferjeant painter in this reign was 
 John Brown, who, if he threw no great luftre on 
 his profeflion, was at leaft a benefactor to its profeflors. 
 In the 24th of Henry, he built Painter's Hall, for 
 th company, where his portrait is ftill preferred, 
 among other pictures given by perfons of the fociety. 
 In this reign flouriflied the great Hans Holbein, 
 than whom few artifts have received more applaufe. 
 
 The reign of Mary, - though fhorter even than 
 that of her brother, makes a much more confiderable 
 figure in the annals of painting. It was diftinguilhed 
 by more good painters than one, the principal of whom 
 was Sir Antonio More. 
 
 The long and remarkable reign of Elisabeth 
 could not but furnifh many opportunities to Artiffo of 
 fignalixing themfelves. There is no evidence that 
 Elisabeth had much tafte for painting ; but fhe 
 loved pictures of herfelf. In them fhe could appear 
 really handfome ; and yet, to do the profeflion juftice, 
 they feem to have flattered her the leaft of all her 
 dependants. There is not a fingle portrait of her that 
 d 3 one 
 
38 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 one can call beautiful. Befides many of her Majefty, 
 we are fo lucky as to poflefs the portraits of almoft all 
 the great men of her reign ; and, though the gener- 
 ality of painters at that time were not equal to the 
 fubjecls on which they were employed, yet they were 
 clofe imitators of Nature, and have, perhaps, tranfmitted 
 more faithful reprefentations, than we could have ex- 
 pelled from men of brighter imagination. 
 
 It is well for the Arts, that King James had no 
 difpofition to them : He let them take their courfc. 
 Had he felt any inclination for them, he would pro- 
 bably have introduced as bad a taflc as he did into 
 literature. A prince, who thought puns and quibbles the 
 perfection of eloquence, would have been charmed with 
 the monkics pf Hemskirk, and the drunken boors of 
 Ostadjs, 
 
 The acceflion of his fon and fucceftbr, Charles I. 
 was the firft aera of real tafte in England. As his 
 temper was not profufe, the expenfe he made in col- 
 lections, and the rewards he bellowed on men of true 
 genius and merit, are proofs of his judgment, Ii* 
 painting he had fo excellent a fancy, that he would 
 fupply the defect: of art in the workman, and fuddenly 
 draw thofe lines, give thofe airs and lights, whicl; 
 experience and practice had taught the painter. The 
 king is faid not only to have loved painting, but to 
 have praclifed it. It is affirmed, that Rubens cor- 
 rected fome pf his Majefty's drawings. He purchafed, 
 at a great price, the entire cabinet of the Duke of 
 Mantua, then reckoned the moft valuable in Europe. 
 
 The 
 
HISTORY OF BI7RGHLEY HOUSE. 39 
 
 The arts were, in a manner, expelled, with the 
 Royal family, from Britain ; and the reltoration of 
 Royalty brought back the Arts, not tafte. Charles II. 
 had a turn to mechanicks, none to the politer fciences. 
 The (hort and tempeftuous reign of James the Second, 
 though he himfelf feems to have had much inclination 
 to them, afforded fmall encouragement to the Arts. 
 King William the Third contributed nothing to their 
 advancement. He was born in a country where tafte 
 never flouriflied, and nature had not given it him as 
 an embellimment to his great qualities. The reign of 
 Anne, fo illuftrated by heroes, poets, and authors, was 
 not equally fortunate in Artifts. Except Kneller, 
 there was fcarcely a painter of note. As the seras of 
 George the Firft and Second were nothing for the 
 better, and we ourfelves witnefs the improvements under 
 George the Third, it is high time to bring thh 
 knperfett EfTay to a conclufion. 
 
 SECT, 
 
HISTORY OF MJftG&LEY HOUSE, 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 leaving the dining for tire drawing room, % 
 ftraivge* mull necefTarily paft through the hall' which 
 leads- to it. This, "though oppofite ta that at the en- 
 trance, and of nearly the fame dimenfions, is paved 
 with x different fort of marble, though in a very 
 fmooth: and: regular manner. Between the two rooms, 
 a large fouth folding door, ta the left, opens into- the 
 ihrubbery ; and, by its fine glafs, admits* a very general 
 and chearful effufion of light. Over the mantle-piece, 
 which is richly carved, is the reprcfentation of Eury- 
 dice returning into the flames; and near the cornice of 
 a few of the family, who are difpofed with great regu- 
 larity and order. In this hall it is not too trivial to 
 mention a new conftrucled machine, which the Earl 
 has introduced, for adjufting the weight of the human 
 body. Though fmall and delicate, it will admit a 
 giant, as well as a pigmy,, to weigh himfelf on it ; 
 and afcertains the bulk of all degrees, from the thinneft 
 curate, to the moft grofs and corpulent Arch-bifhop. 
 We were much amufed, in looking over a lift of many 
 who had been weighed by it, in times paft; and, by 
 obferving a S — p— — e divine, remarkable for his 
 
 folicitudc 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, +1 
 
 folicitude after the good things of old. Mammon, rated 
 at little lefs than eighteen ftone ; though, indeed, not 
 until he had been put up to fatten, for a confiderable 
 time, at this humane and hofpitable retreat. 
 
 The drawing room, which we now enter, is hung 
 with crimfon damafk ; and its length thirty feet by 
 twenty feven. The glafs, over the chimney piece, is 
 faid to have been the largeft plate manufactured in the 
 kingdom-; and meaftires, according to one of the for- 
 mer writers of Burgh le y, exactly feven feet by 
 four. The firescreen is remarkable, for having been 
 painted by a great and remarkable perfonage, no lefk. 
 than the famous Dulchefs of Kingston, when Mifs 
 Ghudleich, and a maid of honour to* the Princefs 
 Dowager of Wales. Of this lady the world has been 
 pleafed to fay much, in its ufual. ftyle; and which too 
 feldom favours of either real information or truth. Her 
 quarrel with the Englifli Aristophanes, the late 
 Samuel Foote, is well known to moll; but the 
 devil, which fhe called up at laft, to avenge his mali- 
 cious wit, quite exceeded the power of that wit ever 
 to lay again. 
 
 As we fpeak of two of Jordano's fine pieces, ia 
 this apartment, a little further oji, his Death of Seneca, 
 and Curtius leaping into the Gulph, we fhall not 
 enlarge upon them here; but pafs immediately to the 
 fubject of two more, Jupiter and Euro pa, and that 
 of Diana and Act^eqn. Great and admirable as 
 true genius appears, in the aft of adorning fublime and 
 pathetic truth, it lofes fomething of its luftrCj when it 
 
 defcendg 
 
42 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 defcends to mere fable. For this reafon, we receive 
 leis fatisfaction, from the infpeclion of thefe, than from 
 fome other pieces by the fame hand : nor is the fub- 
 lime myitcry which is, fometimes, couched under fic- 
 tion, able to reconcile it. Though Jupiter, in the 
 form of a bull, is drawn like no other bull; and 
 Action, in that of a flag, like no other flag, we 
 cannot but regret, that the fame fine ftrokes were not 
 applied to fubjetts which become them better. If, 
 however, fome of the fquires of the country, who dilfipate 
 large eitates upon dogs; or fome, who, fetting up for 
 philofophers, by fcarching into nature too far, (which 
 feems implied by Action's looking upon Diana 
 naked) make themfelves beggars, would attend to the 
 laft, it would be well. Action, purfued by his dogs, 
 expreffes no more than what we, alas, too often fee, 
 many a worthy country gentleman, through grofs mif- 
 conducl, fet at bay by his tenants and dependants : who, 
 in the fliape of bailiffs and bullies, too often hunt him 
 through the kingdom* 
 
 It is much to be wiflied, that in fo fine a col- 
 lection of painting as this, there were fome perfon to 
 fhow it, whofe intellects are a little more cultivated 
 than thofe of a common chamber-maid. What can 
 fych a poor girl be expected to know of the bull 
 Jupiter, but what me has feen of the running bull 
 at Stamford ? Or of Act /eon turned into a flag, more 
 than of one of the common deer in Burghley Park? 
 When flrangers and pilgrims are, as it often happens, 
 fimple, their guides cannot be too knowing and wife. 
 Of this fimplicity, at Burghley, many ftories are 
 told, Mr. Peck, in his « Defiderata Curiofa," fays, 
 
 that 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. 43 
 
 that among other pictures, there is a curious one of 
 Jupiter and Danae, merrily enough exprcfled. Ju- 
 piter defcends in a Ihower of guineas, and Danae 
 holds up her fmock to catch them. a But," faid one, 
 who came to fee the houfe, w where is Jupiter ?" 
 ** Why the guineas are he," quoth his friend. This 
 picture ftill remains. Much of the fame complexion is 
 the following. On fhewing the houfe to fome flrangers, 
 one of them, who we may fwear was no roman catho- 
 lic, obferving, that there were many pictures of the 
 holy family mentioned in the inventory, defired the 
 guide to inform her, who that family were ? There are 
 other inftances, befides thefe, fuch as a half blind gen- 
 tleman running a long nofe almoft into the bottom of 
 the canvafs of a large picture ; when the true and pro- 
 per light, in which it is to be viewed, is, perhaps, at 
 the diftance of ten, or even twelve paces back. 
 
 We would not retire from the drawing room, 
 without a flight glance at the picture, which hangs 
 over the door, of the Virgin Mary, infant Christ, 
 and St Framcis, by Guercino. The ftyle in which 
 the palms of the hands of the infant turn back, as he 
 itoops forwards, in the lap of the Virgin, in an affec- 
 tionate manner, towards St. Francis, very much re- 
 fembles the air of a child, who is beginning to lifp, 
 from the firft dawnings of reafon; and differs from all 
 the other delineations of the infant Christ in this 
 colleftion. Guercino was an Italian, and formed a 
 manner peculiar to himfelf, with a chiaro-fcuro, that 
 gives the greateft relief to objects, and makes them 
 
 feem 
 
4+ HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE; 
 
 feem palpable. With this,, his art was fo great, that 
 ha deceived both Guido- and Domenichino. 
 
 The picture of Seneca,, the philofopher, bleeding: to 
 death in a bath, well deferves a more minute consider- 
 ation. That the fentence of this great man was in- 
 flicted by the bloody Ne:RO, with little or no provo- 
 cation, appears probable from the teftimony of the 
 great Lord Bacon; who highly commends his ad- 
 miniftration, in the four years in which he held the 
 reigns of government for his unworthy pupil. What- 
 ever was the tyrant's motive, his fufTerings, if a ftoic 
 can be faid to have any, form the fubject of the prefent 
 picture ; which, though excellent, is rivalled by many 
 in the fame collection. Mr. Peck, though he feems 
 always anxious, to do: the fulleft juftice tq the curiofi^ 
 ties of Burgh ley, has, very unluckily, mifreprefented 
 the nature of this piece ; and obferves, in the following 
 poor frofaic. lines, 
 
 " His fcholars faint to fee their Matter dead, 
 
 M Each falls his pen, and hangs his drooping head, 
 
 M And hardly catches what he dying faid:" 
 
 whereas, the reverfe is exactly the true flatc of 
 the cafe, for the philofopher is not dead, but dying ; 
 and his pupils, fo far from dropping their pens, and 
 fainting away, hold them faft in their hands, and pay 
 the moll pathetic attention to tranferibe his Jail com- 
 mands.— Though fiction is admitted a requifite orna- 
 ment to poetry, if this deferves to be called fuch, 
 yet furely no fiction was requifite to warp a plain 
 fact. It has been already admitted, that the expreflion 
 
 in 
 
HISTORY OF BURCnir.Y HOUSE. 4 ~ 
 
 in Seneca's whole figure is wonderfully -great; and 
 the mufcles of a fpare old man, whofe w T hole life has 
 been in fubjeclion to the principles of the molt feverc 
 philofophy, are very finely and very faithfully exprefled. 
 The painter feems to have taken him, if not at a 
 moment in which life was ready to vanilh, yet furely 
 at that when, by the lofs of blood, in fo old a fub- 
 jecl, reafon and fenfibility mull naturally have been 
 fuppofed to end. His eyes feem to fink in his head ; 
 and his approaching dnTolution is foretold by the ghaltly 
 darknefs, w T hich appears to lower over his whole face. 
 Like a .ftoic and a philofopher, however, he dictates to 
 the laft ; and points out his fentirnents with his hand, 
 when it is evident he has fcarcely ftrength to fupport 
 his body. But his pupils, who zealoufly kneel by 
 him, are all attention ; and while, alas, their eyes fweli 
 with tears, convey the idea of that infirmity, which 
 the foal of their more rigid matter fpurns with dik 
 daiu. 
 
 Mr. Prior, the contemporary of Pope and Ad- 
 dison, who was much at Burgh ley, in the time of 
 John Earl of Exeter, has written a fhort encomium 
 upon this piece ; but not in his bell manner, nor, ia 
 the leaft, equal to its real merit* Hi3 fentirnents are* 
 exprelTed in the following lines : 
 
 While cruel Nero only drains 
 The moral Spaniard's ebbing veins. 
 By fludy worn, and flack with age, 
 How dull, how thoughtlefs is his rage \ 
 HeigfitenM revenge he fiiouid have took, 
 He mould have burnt his Tutor's book; 
 And long have reignM fupreme in vice 5 
 One aobltr wretch can only rife; 
 
46 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE; 
 
 'Tis he whofe fury mall deface 
 
 The Stoic's Image in this piece, 
 
 For, while unhurt, divine Jordain, 
 
 Thy work and Seneca's remain, 
 
 He ftili has body, ftill has foul, 
 
 And lives and fpeaks reftored and whole. 
 
 Had the Painter's abilities, in his delineation of 
 Seneca's perfon, been fet forth in Seneca's own pom- 
 pous and nervous fuftian* inftead of the prefent creeping 
 meafure, it could not, furely, have fallen fo far fliort 
 of what the language of an elegant compliment ought to 
 be. Pope, who was nearly as eminent in painting as 
 he was in poetry, would, without a doubt, if he had 
 written upon it^ have exprefTed himfelf with more en- 
 ergy and beauty. The lines, as they are quoted above, 
 abound with too many expletives and bad rhymes to 
 pleafe a good ear; and pofTefs but one thought, which 
 is worthy of Prior ; though that is introduced in * 
 very awkward and ungraceful manner ; 
 
 M One nobler wretch can only rife, 
 <fc "Tis he whofe fury mall deface 
 w The Stoic's Image in this piece.''* 
 
 Mr. Harrod, in his Hiftory of Stamford, in- 
 forms us, that there is a large copper-plate of this 
 picture, engraved by Rave net, from a delineation of 
 Earlom, which is iS inches high, and 23 long. 
 One of thefe, he bbferves, hangs in a front parlour 
 of the George Inn, at: Stamford. The name of the 
 great Artift, who drew this piece and feveral others at 
 Burghley was Luca Jordano, that is, in the 
 
 Italian 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. + - 
 
 kalian language, Luke M^ke Haste; and k was 
 given to him, as a nick- name, becaufe his mercenary 
 father, who fold his defigns at a high price, was per- 
 petually faying to him, even at meals, Luca Fa Prefto* 
 Alga rot Tt calls him a moll fertile genius, and the 
 thunderbolt of painting ; and it is to this ftrtift Mr. 
 Prior fecms to allude, when he fays, in fome lines, 
 which he wrote to the Countefs of Exeter, playing 
 on a lute, in a fome what better ftyle ; 
 
 " As in fome piece, while L»ke his fk.HI cxpreft, 
 c; A cunning Angel came and drew the reft." 
 
 After faying fo much of this fine picture, it wllJ$ 
 perhaps, furprife our readers to hear, that a little cur 
 dog is placed in the middle of the foreground ; and, 
 as he has been fuppofed by fome to debafe the gran- 
 deur of its other parts, we fhall endeavour to prove, 
 by a proper confederation of the painter's dtfign, that 
 he had as good a right to be there as any of the 
 group. In order to account for this, many very vague 
 conjectures have been formed ; for, whiift one writer 
 has imagined he is drawn in no frolickfome attitude, and 
 that he looks nearly as wife as Seneca himfelf ; another 
 has been pleafed to affign reafons of fo very contrary a 
 nature, that the faid little Cur, we are convinced, if 
 he had known them, would, without doubt, have 
 barked at them both. 
 
 To fuppofe that the artift could voluntarily debafe. 
 his own picture, for no caufe, would be highly abfurd ; 
 bur, that fo great a hand mould poflcfs fome great 
 defegn, by this addition, is highly natural and probable, 
 
 A% 
 
4 B HISTORY fcURGHLEY HOUSI^ 
 
 As, in the fublimer kinds of poetry, there is, fometimefr, 
 more than meets the ear ; why may there not, in the fub- 
 limer kinds of painting, be more than what immediately 
 ffrikes the eye ? Beauties, which cxercife the mind, are^ 
 fometrimes, thofe which delight us moft» and the more we 
 beat the field, the more charming and exquifite is the 
 fport. That Seneca was of that prcpofterous feci of 
 philofophy, which prefumed, not orily to curb and 
 direct the pafTions, but alfo to annihilate and extinguilh 
 them, is well known ; and, that he was, if poffible, a. 
 ftill greater Martinet, in the fchool of Zeno, than 
 any of the philofophers of the Portico, is as evident 
 to thofe who have perufed his morals. 
 
 A wife and great man, he thought, might, not 
 only endure to be blooded to death, but, upon occa- 
 fion, without complaint, ftand on the fcaffold, with 
 his bowels in his hand, and yet preferve his accuftoiru 
 ed ferenky. Is it not then probable, that Jordano 
 was acquainted with thefe hyperbolical fentiments, when 
 he fat down to paint; and, wilhing to reprefent both 
 the philofopher and his feci: by a proper emblem, 
 thought he could not do it better than by the figure 
 of a little rough domeftic cur dog with a fhock head ? 
 If pity or commiferation was what, as the firft writer 
 fuppoles, the artift defired to exprefs in the dog, he 
 would have drawn him, as the blood of the great 
 philofopher ran out, like the dog in the Odyffee, ex- 
 piring at the feet of his mafter : and, either wagging 
 his tail, or licking his hand, with all thofe fymptoms 
 of afFe&ionate concern, which belong to the other in- 
 dividuals of his kind. But, as in doing this, he muft 
 
 tavc 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. ^ 
 
 have broke through his unity of dellgn, and have put 
 human reafon into the brute, to enable him to fee the 
 efFe&s of Seneca's lofs of blood, which is impoffible 
 and unnatural ; he rather chofe to exhibit him a ftoic 
 -philofopher > as he found him. — In this capacity, though 
 unendowed with either knowledge or experience, he is 
 capable of all the fame mental infenfibility, which the 
 boafted dogmas of the Stoics fo very wifely recommend. 
 "While the artift has done all pofhble juftice to the 
 piece, in his fine and affecting defcription of the philo- 
 fopher and his pupils, he intended by this ftroke, no 
 doubt, a tacit fatire upon the error of human wit, as 
 well as upon the do&rine of human pride. Spectators, 
 therefore, muft be greatly deceived, if they imagine any 
 cxprefiion in this animal but that which is of the true 
 Stoical and infenfible kind. The dog is now' beholding 
 the philofopher expire, with the fame unconcern, with 
 which the philofopher would have feen the dog ; and, 
 without reafon, either to quicken or fubdue his feel- 
 ings, is juft as, profound a Stoic as himfelf. 
 
 To iliew the abfurdity of Seneca's own doctrines, 
 he has drawn his pupils oppreiTed with concern, and 
 unable to follow the leflons of their mafter, though 
 beings of the higher!: order; while the lefs fagacious 
 brute, who neither thinks nor reafons at all, like a real, 
 veteran of the Portico, hits them eff to a tittle. When 
 we confider the fubjccl in this light, we no longer 
 conceive it a blemifh ; but, rather confecrate the hand 
 of the artift, for having atchieved a real beauty. Should 
 we, however, be miftaken at laft, we trult our prcfent 
 conjectures will contribute to vindicate the tafte of the 
 £ artift ; 
 
5 0 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 artift ; and, that what we have now faid, of the 
 philofophers dog, is juft as much to the purpofe, as 
 what others have broached in regard to the philofophers 
 Jtone, 
 
 In the next apartment there is a ftill greater pro- 
 fuiion of fine paintings. Among thefe are two very 
 fine pieces of the Dead Chrift, by Vandyc, and Carlo 
 Maratti; and, though a very great judge has pro- 
 nounced the performance of the firft an ailoniming 
 picture, we are of opinion, that the natural ghaftlinefs 
 in the laft exceeds it much. It muft, indeed, be ac- 
 knowledged, that diflimilar and unequal fates happen, 
 fometimes, as well to pi flu res as to men ; and, that it 
 is not always that which is at firft produced with the 
 molt exquifite art, which is moft exempt from the ac- 
 cidents and difafters of time. The conftant dampnefs 
 of a wall, or the beams of a hot fummer fun, which 
 annually ftrike it, will, fometimes, affect: one piece 
 more, in one fituation, than it will a neighbouring one 
 in another; fo that what was a mafter-piece, at firft, 
 may, in a courfe of years, appear to lefs advantage 
 than even one not half its value. This, however, we 
 do not mean to impute to the firft of thefe, as the 
 pictures of Carlo Maratti are certain to delight in 
 every fituation, and in every place. Here is a fublime 
 reprcfentation of the Cumaean Sibyl, by Guido, with a 
 pen in her right hand, and thefe words, in the corner 
 of the piece, iC Nafcetur de virgine," as Mr. Pope ha3 
 poetically tranflated it; 
 
 " A virgin /hall conceive, a virgin bear a fon." 
 
 which 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOtSE. 5* 
 
 which arc applied, no doubt, from Virgil's Pollio on 
 the Birth of Chrift. The mention of this fine piece by 
 Guido, reminds us of an anecdote, which is related 
 by Dr. Wharton, in his u EfTay on the Writings 
 and Genius of Pope,'* of a circumftance which took 
 place between him and Domenichino, an artiit con- 
 fpicuous at Burghley. " When, Guido and Do- 
 menichino," fays the Doctor, ie had each of them 
 painted a picture, in the church of St. Andrew, 
 Annibal Caracche, their mafter, was prefTed to 
 declare which of his two pupils had excelled. The 
 picture of Guido reprefented St. Andrew on his 
 knees before the crofs; that of Domenichino repre- 
 fented the flagellation of the fame apoftle. Both of 
 them, in their different kinds, were capital pieces, and 
 were painted in frefco, oppofite each other, to eternize* 
 as it were$ their rivalfhip and contention. " Gui do," 
 faid Caracche, "has performed as a ma Her, and 
 Domenichino as a fcholar. But," added he* i i the 
 work of the fcholar is more valuable than that of the 
 mafter. In truth, one may perceive faults in the 
 picture of Domenichino* that Guido has avoided; 
 but then there are noble ftrokes, not to be found in 
 that of his rival. It was eafy to difcern a genius, 
 that promifed to produce beauties, to which the fvvecr^ 
 the gentle, and the graceful Guido would never 
 afpire." Notwithitanding the Doctor's general delinea- 
 tion of Gui do's ftyle, it is evident, that his StbyJ, 
 according to the poet, appears, 
 
 " Not touch'd, but wrappM 5 not waken'd, but infpirMj" 
 
 Nor can we imagine his fuccefs in the fublime, as it 
 is drawn in this piece, any way inferior to the attempt % 
 
 i 2 though 
 
52 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 though, whether it be to the fublimity of Domeni- 
 chino, in his pieces at Burgh ley, of the Affumption 
 and Peter's Denial, is another matter of confideration. 
 Far different from that unruffled ftream of thought, 
 which precifely diftinguifhes contemplation, her eyes 
 may be feen to roll in a fort of phrenfy ; and her 
 w T ho!e perfon, as it were, to labour w^th the infpiring 
 God. Guido is faid to have been the inventor of a 
 manner peculiar to himfelf ; and, as he principally 
 excelled in the tender, pathetic, and devout, there is 
 great reafon to fuppofe this is in his bell ftyle. With 
 all his ingenuity, he left the world, as he came into it, 
 in extreme indigence, in the year 1642, aged 67. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 sect. vr. 
 
 Having taken a general view of the 
 pictures in the dining and drawing rooms, and of a 
 few here, the mimic creation will be now found to 
 clufter thick around us, the farther we go; and, did 
 a young artift particularly wifh to form his tafte, he 
 could not, perhaps, more effectually, than at Burgh- 
 ley, where fome of the firffc productions of the French, 
 Flemifh and Italian fchools are feen to centre. The 
 compliment which Dryden paid individually to Sir 
 Godfrey Knell er, may, with the alteration of a 
 few words, be applied to all thefe. 
 
 " More cannot be by mortal art exprefsM, 
 
 " But venerable age mall add the reft : 
 
 " For Time mall with his ready pencil ftand, 
 
 " Retouch the figures with his rip'ning handj 
 
 M Mellow the colours and imbrown the tint, 
 
 " Add ev'ry grace, which Time alone can grant $ 
 
 M To future ages mall their fame convey, 
 
 w And give more beauties ihan he takes away.*' 
 
 Pope, who, of all our poets, poffeiTed the greater! 
 knowledge of the 2rt, does not, however, promife, like 
 £ 3 Dryden 
 
54 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Dryden, to even the greateft painters, fo extenfive 
 a duration of their (kill, as may be feen in the follow- 
 ing beautiful lines, from his EiTay on Criticifm ; 
 
 <c So when the faithful pencil has defign'd 
 
 46 Some bright idea of the Matter's mind, 
 
 4t When a new World leaps out at his command, 
 
 w And ready Nature waits upon his hand} 
 
 « When the ripe colours foften and unite, 
 
 f* And fweetly melt into juft made and light; 
 
 44 When mellowing years their full perfection give, 
 
 4< And each bold figure juil begins to live, 
 
 44 The treacherous colours the fair art betray, 
 
 41 And all the bright creation fades away.'* 
 
 '* It has been matter of wonder to fome, ,, fays a 
 great Critic, " that a proficiency in the arts of Poetry 
 and Painting is not now frequently found in the fame 
 perfon. I cannot at prefent," obferves he, 44 recollect 
 any painters, that were good poets, except Salvator 
 Rosa, and Charges Vermander, of Mulbrac, in 
 Flanders, whofe comedies are much eftecmed. But the 
 fatires of the former contain no flroke of that fervid 
 and wild imagination, fo vifible in his landfcapes." 
 There are fome fine pieces at Burchley, painted by 
 Salvator Rosa, Peter's Denial, and fome others; 
 but furely this great Critic miftakes, or rather overlooks 
 the characleriftic of a true fatirift, when he expects 
 from him the fame fervid and wild imagination, which 
 is found in the painter of wild nature. Satire, being 
 local and temporary, intended to lam vice, and encou- 
 rage virtue, is, from its very efTence, more a fubject of 
 £hc judgment, than of the imagination ; and even, of all 
 
 the 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 55 
 
 the different kinds of poetry, admits lead of wild and 
 picturefque beauty. 
 
 Notwithftanding the learned author's opinion, we 
 find that Lucas de He ere, born at Ghent, in 1534, 
 in the reign of Elisabeth, was not only a painter 
 but a poet, as he wrote the Orchard of Poerie, and 
 tranflated, from the French, of Ma rot, the Temple of 
 Cupid and other pieces. He had begun the lives of 
 the Englilh painters in verfe ; and Charles Ver- 
 m an de r, whatever were his abilities, was but his 
 fcholar. Cornelius Kettle, who was born at 
 Gouda in 1548, wrote defcriptions of feveral of his own 
 works in verfe. Frederic Zucchero, the younger 
 brother of Taddeo, and born, like him, at Vado, in 
 the dutchy of Urbino, in the year 1550, with fome 
 others, was a poet too. 
 
 In returning to the fubjecl: of Burgh ley, we mull 
 fay, the ceilings and hangings, in every apartment, feem 
 to breathe with life of all kinds ; from the fenfual pagan 
 gods of Antonio Verrio, to the very famous wild 
 cats, and wild plants of David Koninck. When 
 we reflect upon the immenfe labour and anxiety be- 
 llowed upon thefe ; the various art, which is frequently 
 found on the fame fubjeel, as that of the Holy Family, 
 the Finding of Moses, the Dead Chrill, &c. each 
 excellent in its way, by what eloquence fhall we 
 manifeft our delight or admiration ? In the prefent apart- 
 ment, there is a large piece of Adam and Eve, 
 lamenting over the body of Abel, glanced at elfewhere; 
 and the Death of Joseph, by Carlo Cignanti, of 
 
 e 4 equal 
 
56 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 equal fize : but, as we are not confined to a ftrict 
 method, we fhall rove at large, fpeaking of each with 
 little regard to room or fituation* 
 
 The large piece which reprefents- a ftatuary, 
 prefenting his firfl work to Fortune, both for its diffi- 
 culty and beauty, is entitled to a very great degree of 
 praife. As the ftatuary appears a real perfonage on the 
 canvafs (Fortune and the ftatne itfelf being only 
 fictitious ones) it was requifite, if pofible, to draw him 
 in a more ftriking and impreffive manner than either of 
 the other two ; and it is but juft to fay, that this 
 has, accordingly, been done, from the very black, muf- 
 cular and robuit figure which he here makes. His 
 foul appears to rufh out at his large black eyes, as he 
 thrufts forward the ftatue, which is that of a very 
 delicate, beautiful woman, into the embraces of Fortune ; 
 who appears to receive it, with great, but unaccuftomed, 
 courtefy and grace. Nothing can more forcibly depict 
 that eagernef, of fou), peculiar to men of great geniu*, 
 in any of their exertions, whether of poetry, mufic, or 
 painting, than th>s piece. Of equal, but of different, 
 excellence Is the picture which reprefents Prudence in 
 the act of killing Fortune ; both of whom are drawn 
 in the guife of very charming women. As Prudence 
 ftaops forwards to falute her friend, fhe preffes her 
 check, with the fingers of her right hand, in fo natural 
 a manner, that the bare imitation of it appears a real 
 prej]ure. They are both by the fame artift, Petro 
 Libero, and inculcate morals highly ufeful to every 
 purpole of human life : the firft, that, without great 
 earnefinefs and exertion, nothing can be done well ; 
 
 the 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 57 
 
 the laft, that, without Prudence, Fortune herfclf is but 
 a very delufive and precarious goddefs. 
 
 Of fome other pieces, fuch as the Virgin, Infant 
 Chrift, and St. John, by Caracche, the matter of 
 Guido and Domenichino; Chrift and the Woman 
 of Samaria, by Carlo Maratti; the Entombing 
 our Saviour, by Marietto Tintoretto; the Tri- 
 bute Money, by Mutiano, and others, we mail fay 
 little but that they are excellent 
 
 The works of Schidone, who drew a picture 
 of the Virgin, Infant Chrift, and Joseph, at Burghley, 
 are fo exceedingly fcarce, that, when they are met 
 with, they are not unfrequently afcribed to L or re g 10 
 and Parmegiano. The figures of Boroccio, who 
 drew the Nativity, are fo line, that they have been 
 faid, by another critic, to look as if they were fed 
 with rofes. The Virgin, Infant Chrift, St. John, St. 
 Catharine, and St. Jerom, by Parmegiano; Wife 
 Men's Offering, by Carlo Dolci; Affumption of 
 the Virgin, by Domenichino; Shepherd's Offering, 
 by Scarcellini de Ferrara j the Lord of the 
 Vineyard, by Domenicho Fetti ; Coriolanus and 
 the Roman Matrons, by Cairo; St. Joh.n, by Par- 
 megiano; Christ preaching in the temple, by Luc a 
 Van Leyden ; and Virgin and Child, by Leonardo 
 da Vinci, are all performances in this collection, of 
 great merit, and by the fir ft m afters. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, who was born at Vinci, 
 in Italy, was the founder of the fchool at Milan, and 
 
 was 
 
5« HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 was a perfon of great learning and univerfal genius. 
 He was the firft, fays Algarotti, who contrived to give 
 relief to his figures. He was extremely flow in paint- 
 ing ; but, when he finifhed his pictures, they were 
 exquifite. He was four years in painting his Jo con da, 
 and yet left it unfinished. Francis the Firft is faid 
 to have bought it for 4000 crowns ; but his beft piece, 
 which an eminent writer calls inimitable, is his Chrift's 
 laft Supper, in the Monaftery of Dominichans, at Mi- 
 lan. He died in the arms of Francis the Firft, in 
 1520, aged 75. The picture of the Virgin and Child, 
 therefore, at Burghley, painted by him; and that 
 of the Holy Family, by Raphael, who died in the 
 fame year, muft be at lea ft both of them two hun- 
 dred and feventy-fix years of age; and almoft the oldeft 
 paintings in this collection • 
 
 Titian, who, as well as Carlo Lotti, painted 
 the fubjeel; of the Finding of Moses, at Burghley, 
 was the chief Mafter of the Venetian fchool, and is 
 accounted, notwithstanding Hogarth gives the palm 
 to Co r reg 10, the firft in point of colouring. His 
 figures feem to breathe, and the blood to circulate in 
 the countenances of each. He excelled alfo in portrait 
 and landfcape ; the back ground of his Martyrdom of 
 St. Feter, being, perhaps, the fineft landfcape that 
 ever iffued from the art of man. The Botanift finds 
 it difficult to keep his hands from the different plants. 
 In his portraits we find a certain majefty, and Spanifh 
 gravity ; yet he fails in defign, and frequently offends 
 againft coftume. In an Ecce Homo, he has clothed 
 his pages in a Spanilh drefs, and placed the modem 
 
 arms 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 arms of Germany on the fhields of the Roman foldiers. 
 He died in 1576, aged 96. So much for the paint- 
 ings at prefent. 
 
 To fpeak of gold and filver plate, in the manfion 
 of a nobleman, may feem fuperfluous, though it may 
 be queftioned, if ever plate was feen in more abun- 
 dance than in this. Befides the filver cifterns, foun- 
 tains, fconces and grates, the toilet, in one apartment, 
 exhibits fixteen pieces of the finelt and mod weighty 
 gold plate, with the arms of the family; to which their 
 motto, unum cor, una via, one heart, one way, is 
 affixed ; and, in the prefent, another nine of gold 
 filligrane, and twenty -five of filver, furpaffing even the 
 fumptuous defcription of Belinda's toilet, in the Rape 
 of the Lock, as defcrioed by the warm and delicate 
 imagination of Pope. 
 
 As it is natural to give precedence to pictures of 
 greateft antiquity in this collection, we mall obferve, 
 as Alberto Durer, who painted the Vifion of 
 St. Hubert, died in 1528; that, as Correcio, 
 who painted that of the Virgin and Child, died in 
 1534; and Andrea del Sarto, who painted that 
 of the Holy Family, and of St. John, in 1540; that 
 each of thefe pieces muft be at leaft 268, 262, and 
 256 years of age. To thofe, who pay them but an 
 ordinary attention, their fuperior antiquity muft, indeed, 
 appear, from that hoary fable, with which time feems 
 to inveft them. When compared with the piclures of 
 Carlo Maratti, and others, who painted at the 
 diftance of two centuries afterwards, what an amazing 
 
 contraft, 
 
6o HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 contrafl:, in refpect of colours, do wc find ! That ve- 
 nerable age, which, according to the prophecy of 
 Dryden, was beautifully to u imbrown the tint," has 
 now opp*efTed them with fhades of a ftill darker and 
 mere ghailly hue. What misfortunes might have af- 
 fected them, fince finiflied by their refpective authors, 
 alas, we cannot tell ; but the evidence of their fupcrior 
 antiquity appears at the firft glance. 
 
 The modern votaries of the art, excellent as they 
 are, in other points, have never been able to array 
 their pieces with that fort of immortality, for which 
 the productions of the ancienrs were fo long famous. 
 Where is there a fanctuary fo holy, or a fhrinc fo 
 deeply retired, as to protect them from the pernicious 
 effects of fun and air ? The very pilgrims, who through 
 curiofity refort to them, difturb thofe particles of dufr, 
 which, fjlently adhering to them, are fure to end in 
 their diflblution-. However fine the cloth or fpunge, 
 with which they are wiped, year after year, in the 
 courfe of two or three centuries, the very means ufed 
 for their prefervation, become, in fact, the weapons of 
 their deflruction. Like keen air, acting upon elemental 
 flui\ the beautiful fuperficies is ravifhed into vapour ; 
 the unctuous or watery ingredients defert the canvafs, 
 metal, or wcod ; and, like vats, when the wine is 
 drawn off*, retain nothing but pernicious lees. The 
 varnifh, which is applied, though it may repair their 
 beauty now and then, is no more than rouge on the 
 cheek of a fafliionable invalid ; which, when diflblved, 
 is pale and fallow. Could Alberto Durer, Cor- 
 segio, or Andrea del Sarto, arife from the dead, 
 
 to 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. Ql 
 
 to take a paternal view of any of their favourite pieces, 
 at the prefent day, wherefoever fcattered, would they 
 own them now ? or would they not, making their heads, 
 with melancholy concern, fink again inanimate into the 
 tomb, at the prodigious change ? 
 
 A nobleman of tafte, who travels abroad, for 
 pictures of eminent mailers, which are fcarce, will 
 procure them, in any condition, in which he finds them -; 
 and who can be fure, that this condition is always to 
 their advantage? A picture by Titian or Raphael, 
 however mildewed or abufed, is flill Titian's and 
 (till Raphael's; and the more it has fuffered, ftill 
 more is it entitled to companion, and a fituation in 
 the collection of a humane and accomplifhed connoifTeur. 
 A picture by a fine hand, when a little fable, is juft 
 as refpcctable as a coin or medal a little rutty ; the 
 ruity or fable part, to a true virtuofo, being, by far, 
 the mod precious and delectable. We will, however, 
 yet hope, for the honour of the moderns, that many 
 of their pieces, when they feem to mourn in this 
 manner, have fuffered as much from the dif afters of 
 time, as from the mere progrejfton of time itfelf. 
 There are feme fubjects, indeed, of a grave caft, that 
 become it better than others of a light; and may, until 
 time has laid his laft deftructive hand upon them, im- 
 prefs us with additional veneration! Methu-salum, 
 Abraham, Noah, or any of the antediluvians, of- 
 fered to us, in the fable tinge of three hundred years, 
 if perfect in other refpects, is furely to be preferred to 
 any, by the belt hand, at the prefent day- In 
 fpeaking, in this manner, of a few, very few pieces 
 
 at 
 
6z HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE!. 
 
 at Burgh ley, we mutt exempt a great many others. 
 The pictures of Elisabeth and the Lord Treafurer 
 Bur uhley, by Mark Garrards ; Queen Mary, 
 the filter of Elisabeth, by Holbein; and many 
 others, whofe age is nearly as great, feem yet to feel' 
 nothing of what we here mention. 
 
 Albert Durer, the firft art! ft, of whom we 
 fpeak, is faid to have been born at Nuremberg, and 
 the inventer of engraving on wood. He difcovers, 
 fays Ten Kate, in his fantaftical flights, a lively ima- 
 gination and a rich fpirit : but generally reprefents a 
 gothic fort of people, of a tafte even below the po- 
 pulace, He excelled in drapery fo much, that Guido 
 was not afhamed to copy him ; and his Christ taken 
 from the Crofs, at the Earl of Pembroke's, is a no- 
 ble piece. There are in it ten figures of the moft 
 capital expreflion, to which he has placed the monogram 
 of his name. Corregio's real name was Antonio 
 Allegri ; but he obtained that of Corregio from 
 an inconfiderable town in Italy, where he was born. 
 He is fuppofed to have come very near Raphael in 
 grace; and Hogarth is of opinion, that, for colour- 
 ing, he almoft Hands alone. Algarotti obferves, 
 that we ought to forgive whatever faults he has, for 
 that uncommon greatnefs of manner, as well as for 
 that delicacy of pencil, which cccafion his pieces to 
 appear, as if finilhed in a day, and feen through a 
 glafs. He was the firft who brought the true art of 
 fhortening figures to perfection ; and arrived at all the 
 eminence he poflefled without an inltruclor. There is 
 no artiftj it has been faid, whofe paintings we fee 
 
 with 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOl/SE. 63 
 
 with more pleafure, or remember longer than Cor re- 
 cio's. Webb is of opinion, that he has not the 
 tendernefs or delicacy of Titian ; the fleih of his 
 figures being too firm, and the fkin too much ftretched : 
 but, that, in the fplendour of the clear obfeure, he 
 overbears our cenfure, and is the ftandard of true grace. 
 An anonymous poet has thefe rapturous lines on him* 
 
 Sce'rt: thou the warmth, the grace divine, 
 That breathes thro* mild Corregio's line, 
 
 By Heav'n's peculiar care ? 
 Doth Guido wrap thee in delight, 
 Can Titian's colours charm thy fight, 
 
 Or Raphael's Godlike air? 
 
 His noble pifture of St. Anthony was ftolen 
 from the Duke of Parma, who offered an hundred 
 piltoles for its recovery; but a Venetian nobleman 
 buying and refelling it, it is now in the poflellion of 
 the Earl of Pembroke. Of all his pieces, his Nativity 
 and St. Jerom are accounted his beft. When Count 
 Koningsmark took Prague, in 1648, the Emperor's 
 pictures were carried to Sweden ; and fome of poor 
 Corregio's bell pieces ferved for blinds to the royal 
 liable of Stockholm, but what efcaped the common 
 havock was purchafed by the Duke of Orleans. In 
 the fame way, when Bonn, the refidence of the Electors 
 of Cologne, was taken by the French, 
 
 " The labour'd paintings pafling thought, 
 u Which warm Italian pencils wrought,'* 
 
 were cut out of their frames, to make coverings for 
 ■their waggons. Quis talia fando, tcmperet a lachrymis. 
 
 Andrea 
 
6 + HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE,; 
 
 Andrea del Sarto was a Florentine, and h 
 faid to have received his iurname from being originally 
 a taylor. He was remarkably fweet in his colouring, 
 and excelled in drapery. He was alfo an excellent 
 copyift, and imitated a capital piece by Rafhael fo 
 well, that it deceived Julio Romano, though he had 
 himfelf painted a part of the original. The whole 
 academy of French painters were deceived in a copy, 
 which he took from a piece of Titian's; and which 
 caufed Louis XIV. to purchafe it, as an original, for 
 eight hundred louis d'ors. A nobleman, however, 
 foon after producing it, his majefty gave him the above 
 fum, together with the copy, in exchange. There was, 
 fays Baker, not long fince, an avtift at Paris, who 
 pretended to make copies from eld pictures, and paint 
 them in fuch a manner, as to make them look old, and 
 not to be difcovered, when placed againlt the originals. 
 Raphael, whofe piece of the Holy Family we before 
 mentioned, is faid to have died at the age of only 37 ; 
 through an inordinate pafiion for the fair fex. Indeed 
 it is nothing extraordinary, that one, who could paint 
 them fo divinely, mould enjoy them to excefs. A copy 
 only of his Holy Family, the original of which is at 
 Verfailles, was fold, at Sir Luke Schaub's fale, for above 
 700I. another, not long fince, in Pall Mall, for 360 guineas^ 
 and, in 1762, another fmaller, at Verfailles, was fold at 
 Preftages, for 150. Three pictures, however, of the 
 Holy Family, by Raphael, one at Naples, one in 
 the Orleans Palace, at Paris, and this, at Burgh ley, 
 are deemed undoubted originals. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 JEaSY as it is to diftinguifh the extremes 
 of good and bad, none but a real Critic, in the art 
 of painting, where pi&ures are fo numerous as they arc 
 at Burgh ley, can afcertain their delicate made of 
 difference, and exaft degree of merit. We find our- 
 felves, therefore, under no little embarraffment, ia 
 writing upon fo difficult a theme 3 and, though it ex* 
 ceed our power to perform all we wifh, fpme little 
 commendation may, perhaps^ be ours, if we effeel: morg 
 than the other hiilorians of Burghley have hitherto 
 done. But, where fo much excellence preffes upon us, 
 on which fide mall we turn, or where mall we begin! 
 Each great artift feems to beckon us with equal right 5 
 and to give a preference to any is a matter aim oft 
 impoffible. 
 
 If fingle portraits allure us, behold how they ftrike s 
 from that of Elisabeth, and her great Treafurer* 
 the flrft Lord Burleigh, by Marc Garrards, cf 
 Bruges, to thofe of the two miftrefles of the painters, 
 Parmegiano and Domekichino ! How much is the 
 
 F picture 
 
66 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 piclure of the flrft like unto that Elisabeth reprefented 
 in ftory ! The very dignity, with which me looks, 
 were enough, methinks, to abalh, and even alarm, the 
 poor artift who drew her; but, when we gaze on the 
 Treafurer, fo profoundly wrapped up in meditation and 
 his great gown, we are thrown into a brown ftudy ; 
 and require frontlets, for fometime, to fmooth away the- 
 fympathetic wrinkles Wihidh we catch. What a warm, 
 comfortable ohjecl, with her furs, is the miltrefs of 
 Parmegiano, who flrft taught the art of etching with 
 aqua-fortis ? A fquinting perfon, while gazing on her, 
 methinks, becomes cured ; and the knees of the moll 
 vaftant, almoft knock together, like thofe of Be lsh azz a r, 
 as by a kind of charm ! 
 
 Turn now, Oh gentle ft ranger, to the Lady of 
 Domenichino, and fee what tenderly complex expref- 
 fion fpeaks there ! If your cheek be pale and cold, 
 prefently will you find a glow, while you gaze at 
 her, like that which fpfings in hers f In that almoft 
 matchlefs counienance, you may trace a fenriment, which, 
 flowing warm from her heart, feems to quicken the 
 canvafs, and is, every moment, ready to burft out at 
 her eyes, in tears. She appears under fome refentment 
 of the tender kind; but, alas, much too amiable to 
 give it fcope ! She feels with' fo much natural magic, 
 that none but the magician, who fixed her in this- 
 charming fpell, can rightly tell you what her feelings 
 are. Beneath the fnowy turban, which adorns her head, 
 what pathos feems to drefs her brows ; what filent, yet 
 what fpeaking, triftnefs, highly touched f 
 
 If 
 
fclSTOItY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. 67 
 
 If facred hiftory now invite your fteps, behold, from 
 ihe large piece of the firft great parents of mankind, 
 lamenting over the body of their fon Abel, by 
 Andrea CelesTi, to the little one of The Flight of 
 Joseph, with the young Child, and his Mother, by 
 night, into Egypt, by the divine Carlo Dolci, what 
 admiration and what pleafure they excite ! The forrow, 
 which is wrung from our firit parents, in the firft is 
 fuch as may be conceived to anfe in thofe, who be- 
 hold the firft murder committed by one fon upon the 
 body of the other. Naivetee and innocence are mingled 
 with their grief ; and, while the naked mother of 
 mankind hangs over him with hands clafped, the hoary 
 Protoplaft pours his forrows into the earth, and mourna 
 the dull from whence he came. Confidence and 
 calm ferenity, in the laft, arc very confpicuoufly 
 exprelTed in Joseph, fuch as we might expeft from & 
 holy a man, to whom the angel of the Lord had fo 
 recently appeared. Though his journey into Egypt h 
 called a flighty he feems rather to accommodate himfelf 
 to his afs, than his afs to him ; who travels on much 
 at the old rate, with very little regard to the important 
 errand on which he goes. By this circumftance, how- 
 ever, the artift feems to avow his own faith in the 
 faith of Joseph, and renders it, as we might expecl, 
 the moil prominent feature of the whole piece; which, 
 though finall in bulk$ is evidently great in execution* 
 
 Hiilory pieces of a lefs facred, but of an equally 
 ingenious, kind will charm you, in thofe of Curtius 
 •leaping into the Gulph, on horfeback, by the great 
 Jordano ; and the landing of Agrippina, at Brun- 
 f 2 dufium, 
 
68 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 dufium, with the urn that contains the afties of her 
 hufband German icus, by that fublime artifl Mr. 
 West. Though a very learned Englishman, and great 
 fceptic, hath written a treatife to prove the firft a mere 
 fable, it is flill received as authentic ; and affords 
 Jordano a fubjecl:, in that kind of painting, in which 
 he is moll eminent. If Curtius be mad, pray, is 
 not his charger mad too ? Did you ever before fee 
 man and beavt fo refolved on taking a good leap ; and 
 do they not appear, in their exertions, as if they would 
 both dtifh headlong out of the canvafs together ? The 
 facrifice on the fide of the artifl is, indeed, as fublims 
 as on that of the Roman ; for he enters into all the 
 cnthufiafm of the latter, and immortalizes it in colours 
 truly worthy of the Academy or the Vatican. 
 
 On the fide of Mr. West, almoft the only 
 Englifh painter, who is honoured with a fituation at 
 the Earl's, we have a great deal to admire ? His fubjecl 
 leads him into a neceffity of expreffing a great number 
 of figures ; fome of which are pathetic, and others very 
 highly fublime. The Temple ! The huge galley ! The 
 virgin train, and laft, the urn, in the cold arms of 
 the mourning Ag rip pin a, are objects, not only inte- 
 refting to the fpeclator, but fuch as the authenticity of 
 hiftory demands in the prefent piece. That the painter 
 .might more ftrikingly fucceed in his attempt to depict 
 the deep forrow of Agrippina, he has thought proper 
 to draw her with black hair, which, as it hangs neg- 
 ligently down, in diihevelled treffes, is more apt, than 
 any other, to call a pale tinge upon the face. While 
 he deferves the kurel $ for the deep and inflexible an* 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 69 
 
 guiih, in the mother, who rivets her dejecled eyes 
 upon the urn ; not lefs is his fuccefs in the well dif- 
 criminated feelings, which he reprefents in her two 
 infants, the fons of the deceafed Germanicus. As 
 children of their age feel nothing of what arifes from 
 reflection, to render their forrow natural, he reprefents 
 them catching it, as children generally do, by a plaftic 
 influence, from the mother. They grafp her robe on 
 each fide; and, as they look up tenderly towards her, 
 feem rather to deplore the pathetic filence of the exift- 
 ing Ag rip pin a, whom they fee, than the lofs of the 
 deceafed Germanicus, who has fo long been 
 removed from their childilh contemplation. In no part 
 does Mr. West appear to offend againfl what the 
 painters denominate coftume ; and, as it is evident, 
 from ancient claflic authors, that the Romans mourned 
 in white, he has, with Ariel propriety, arrayed both 
 the virgin train and the children in white garments. 
 While the temple, in which fhe is going to depoflt 
 the afhes of her deceafed Lord, is thronged with fpec- 
 tators, fome of which appear to be ready to fall head- 
 long from its turrets, behold what confternation frowns 
 upon the matrons, at the temple's foot ! Sad, above the 
 reft, upon the ground they fit ; and, while they hide 
 their faces with their hands, with what a dignity do 
 they muffle up their forrows from the crowd ! While 
 conjugal affe&ion is finely difplayed in the tall, graceful 
 ftature of Acrippina, at the head of her train of 
 virgins, what a picture of ferene beauty do we difcern, 
 where we could leaft expett it, in the very laft of 
 them all! An artift of lefs difcernment than Mr. 
 West would have ftrove to captivate in each ; but, 
 
 f 3 as 
 
70 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 as nature feldom acls with fuch profufion, well has he 
 conformed himfelf to her divine direction. Each, as 
 in the fcenes of life, is pafiing well ; but this, the 
 fy nozure of vulgar eyes, divinely bright ! Intent, alas, 
 not fo much upon Germanic us, as female like, upon 
 herfelf, (he throws her eyes upon the ground, not 
 from a fenfe of grief, but from a modeji confejjion of 
 her own charms, which form the chief grace of the 
 proceffion ! As this paffes on towards the temple, you 
 may perceive the galley, in which they have juft failed, 
 by order of its Commander, who points, with his 
 truncheon, to a diftant poii>t of land, endeavour again 
 to put out to fea. How true a Roman does he look ; 
 and none but Roman failors could exhibit fuch mufcles, 
 like his crew, in ftraining at the ropes and cordage ! 
 Thus will the genius of Mr, West appear in eyery 
 point ; and fmall will be the compliment tp fay, he is 
 a greater painter of hiilory than England ever bred. 
 There is infinite fire and expreflion in moft of his 
 compofitions ; while he has been more happy, in the 
 art of ftamping a durability on his colours than moft 
 artifts of modern times. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 Apologizing to our readers for 
 
 quoting the lines of a very indifferent poet, we may 
 now fay with Mr. Peck, 
 
 *' Such, Burghley, are in part thy charms ; but who, 
 *' Would he the wonderful detail go through, 
 " Can all thy wealth and curious things repeat, 
 44 Or but in catalogue thy glories treat ? 
 u Or who, had he that catalogue, could find 
 c < Leifure to view what once was here defigned, 
 " Great Exeter, by thy capacious mind ? 
 " Thofefpoils, indeed, which now thy Burghley ftoreSj 
 <e Were once the ornaments of Cyphur's (hores : 
 M But, when by thy command they faiPd acrofs 
 " The feas, if fame be true, Rome moum'dthe lofs.'* 
 
 In the prefent apartment, where we are dazzled 
 with fo many delightful objefts, is a half length of 
 the Virgin reading, by Garofalo. It is probable the 
 artin?s intention, in drawing her in this attitude, was 
 to reprefent the graces of modefty with a more forci- 
 ble effect ; and, as the eyes, in reading, naturally throw 
 
 f 4 them- 
 
7 2 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 themfelvcs down, he feems to have Angled it out for the 
 exprefs purpofe of depicting this virtue. The pi&ure of 
 Joseph and Potiphar's wife is drawn by Valeriq 
 Cast ell i, a Genoefe, who is fuppofed to have executed 
 more pieces in England than in any other part of 
 Europe. Here too is Mary Magdalen, and a 
 Noli me tangere, or touch me not, Christ's words 
 to Mary, after his refurrection, from the 17th verfe 
 of the twentieth chapter of the Gofpel, by ^t. John. 
 Susannah and the Elders is a piece here drawn by 
 Sir Peter Lely, who was a ftate painter to, 
 Charles the Second, and one of the Firft artifts in 
 his reign. He was by birth a Weftphalian ; and, as his 
 father was born in a perfumer's fhop, at the Hague, which 
 was diftinguifhed by ' he fign of the lib , he was afterwards 
 known by this name. That he was a greater flatterer of the 
 fair fex than Vandyck, is evident from the fuperior beauty 
 of his women, whom he drew in a fort of fantaftic 
 night gowns, fattened with a fingle pin. When 
 Cromwell fat to him for his picture, he exemplified 
 his greatnefs of mind, by commanding him to draw 
 every blemifh, pimple, and wart in his countenance ; 
 alluring him, if he did not, he would not reward 
 him with a farthing. The Knight, it is faid, expired 
 rather fuddenly, while he was painting the Dutchefs 
 of Somerset, in 1680, aged 62: but had amafTed 
 fo much, by his profeffion, that he was enabled tQ 
 leave his heir a perfonal eftate of 900I. a year. 
 
 Here alfo is Christ and the Samaritan woman, 
 by Andrea Valentino ; and Rebecca, at the well, 
 by Acostino Caracchi. The head of St. Paul, 
 Ht the Earl of Pembroke's, is a proof of the cor- 
 
 reftnefs 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 re&nefs and elegant manner of Caracchi, in the art 
 of defigning. Notwithitanding his eminence as a pain- 
 ter, he was fo excellent an engraver, that his etchings 
 were almoft as much valued as his pictures. All the 
 Caracchis were born at Bologna, and were the 
 founders of that fchool, which was a compofition of 
 all the others. Cupid, pulling Fortune by the hair, is 
 a large line piece by Pietro da Vecchia, though, 
 among fo many neighbours of rank, it does not demand 
 any very elaborate defcviption. The Reconciliation of 
 Sjt. Peter and St. Paul was drawn by Gerard 
 Honthorst, who was born at Utrecht, and was a 
 favourite of the Queen of Bohemia, He inllrucled her 
 Majefty and her children in the art of painting ; and 
 worked for the King of Denmark and the Prince of 
 Orange. He was invited into England by Charles 
 the Firft, where he gave many fine proofs of his flrill. 
 Jn a clofet on this floor, a room or two farther on, 
 is a pi&ure of Queen Mary, by Ho lee in, princi- 
 pally remarkable for differing from that which is to 
 be feen, by fome other hand, at Wooburn Abbey, the 
 feat of his Grace the Duke of Bedford. Holbein's, 
 if not a flattering, is not, like the laft, a Ihocking and 
 difagreeable refemblance of this much bigottcd woman. 
 If her Majefty could have feen the dreadful demeanour 
 with which lhe is taken, it would have been fufficient, 
 we imagine, to have induced her, without the artift's 
 efpouling any particular tenet of faith, to have condemned 
 him to the flames. 
 
 The Earl of Arundel, returning from Italy, 
 through Baiil, feeing the works of Holbein, was 
 charmed with them, and advifed him to go into Eng- 
 land 
 
j± HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 land. Before he went, he intimated that he mould leave 
 a fpecimcn of the power of his ability. He had Hill 
 at his houfe a portrait that he had juft finiilied for one 
 of his patrons. On the forehead he painted a fly, and 
 fent the picture to the perfon for whom it was defign- 
 cd. The. gentleman, ftruck with the beauty of the 
 piece, went eagerly to brum off the fly, and found 
 the deceit. The (lory foon fpread ; and, as fuch 
 trifling deceptions often do, made more impreffion than 
 greater excellencies. Orders were immediately given to 
 prevent the city being deprived of fo wonderful an 
 $rtift, but Holbein had withdrawn himfelf privately. 
 
 We muft not leave this apartment, without a 
 glance at the Centaur and Dejanira, a very capital 
 piece, by Jordano ; Lot and his three Daughters ; 
 two or three pictures of the Dead Chrift, and a bright 
 conftellation of miniatures. 
 
 In the Earl's dreffing room, there is a fine piece 
 of Holles, Duke of Newcaitle, by Vandyck ; one 
 of King William's Battles, by Vandermulen; 
 Morning and Evening, by Tempesta; copy from 
 the Zingera of Corregio ; Virgin and Child, by Guido; 
 St. Stephen, by Tempesta ; Holy Family, by 
 Carlo Marattij a Landfcape, by Booth; two 
 pieces of Birds and Beafts, by David Koninck; a 
 Portrait, by Velasc^uez; Rachael, Countefs of 
 Bedford, by Vandyck; Hunting of Wild Cats, by 
 David Koninck ; and lalt, Venus and Adonis, 
 by Gioseppi Chiari, of the delicacy of which, 
 Mr. Peck, in his Defiderata Curiofa, fpeaks in high 
 
 term?. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 75 
 
 terms. To chara&erife each of thefe, as they merit, 
 as well as many others, which we have pafled over, 
 in the preceding rooms, would be, indeed, a tafk 
 impoflible ; unlefs we had devoted ourfelves to ftudy 
 them, for a courfe of many months. As the Adoration 
 of the fhepherds, however, by Caravaggio, at this 
 end of the houfe, will induce us to fpeak fomewfut 
 minutely of that artilr, we fliall conclude this fecuon 
 with the ftory which is told of him. Caravaggio, 
 it is faid, being driven to indigence, was obliged, 
 without money, to leave Rome on foot ; and, faint with 
 hunger and fatigue, to call at an obfeure Inn, upon 
 the road, for refreshment. Unable, from his unpromif- 
 ing appearance, to obtain it, without a previous payment, 
 he was driven to a {till greater dilemma ; and, knowing 
 not well what to do, he took down the fign from the 
 poll, and, painting it over afrelh, immediately left the 
 Inn. He had not been long gone, before feme perfons 
 of diftin&ion came there ; and, feeing the ilgn, and 
 being ftruck with it, gave the landlord a good round 
 fum to obtain it. Convinced now of the worth, as 
 well as merit, of the departed artift, the hoft fet out 
 to feek him, hoping, through his means, to obtain a 
 few more valuable ligns. To his great concern, how- 
 ever, he finds him, through want of fuftenance, 3 
 breathlefs corpfe, by the way fide. 
 
 " On the bare earth he famiftYd lies, 
 ff With not a friend to clofe his eyes.'* 
 
 Though there are too many inftances of men of 
 great genius, who are brought to a fimilar lamentable 
 
 fate. 
 
7 6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 fate, yet there are fome circumftances in this ftory, to 
 which we cannot cordially aflent. Is it not ftrange, 
 that the landlord, who was fo fufpicious of the artift, 
 as to refufe him a few rnorfels of food, mould confide 
 that to him, which was of fo much more value ; or 
 that a perfon, in his diftreffed Jituation, pining for 
 refrefhment, lhould be able to aecomplilh fuch exquilitc. 
 touches with his pencil ? Would not the landlord, had 
 he feen the artiit, whom he had juft before fufpe&ed, 
 in the ac"l of taking down his fign, have apprehended 
 him for a thief, who was afiuredly going to give him 
 the Jlip\ and would a fenfibk man and great artift, 
 like Caravaggio, endanger his reputation, by appear- 
 ing to turn both rogue and fign painter together, in 
 order to oblige a felfifh morofe publican? Caravag- 
 gio is allowed to be among the foremoft of his pro- 
 fefhon ; and they, who have feen his paintings, are 
 fenfible of the furprizing imprelTion they make. It 
 was, perhaps, from the penury he felt, that he was 
 fo often induced to reprefent penury in others ; as 
 we conceive he has, in his pidlure of the Virgin and 
 Infant Chrift, at Burghley ; and which, however 
 fine, is more remarkable for this terrible kind of 
 fublimity, than for any other beauty. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. yf 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 Trifles will, fometimes, unite great 
 men and great minds, when leagues and even oaths 
 are known to fail. 
 
 The picture of the Virgin and Child, painted "bf 
 F. Gio Benedetto Casticlione, de Compa Cefa 
 Genovefe, was a prefent from the famous Gamga- 
 kelli, Pope Clement the Fourteenth, to the late 
 Earl of Exeter, on the 1 8th of July, 1774; but, 
 as it is exprefTed, on the back, in the fame noble- 
 man's hand writing, did not reach England, until after 
 that Prince's untimely death. It is a little piece, 
 about a foot fquare, painted on metal, and adorned 
 with a large gilt frame ; which, though it comes from 
 the Pope, does not, perhaps, in point of merit, boail 
 fo much infallibility as many others at Burghlei', 
 on the fame fubje£L As the incidents which introduc- 
 ed it to the Earl are rather curious, we will endea- 
 vour to fet them forth. If ever there was a Pope of 
 a great and exalted foul, it was Gancabelli ; and, 
 
 as 
 
73 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 as our Englilh nobility have been, in general, remifs 
 in perfonal refpect to his Holinefs, it left the Earl a 
 more ample opportunity of dtfplaying his. This 
 occurring on a public day, when the Pope palled through 
 the ftreets of Rome, the Earl was pleafed to manifelt 
 the fame adoration, which he experts from all his liege 
 fubjects, on that occaflon ; with which his Holinefs 
 was fo ftruck, that he immediately exprefied a wifh 
 to return it, by fome reciprocal inftance of efteem. 
 Now, as the Earl well knew the effect of the Pope's 
 benediction, and the doctrine of indulgencies, he neither 
 wifhed for the one, nor the other. In what way 
 therefore, could his Holinefs exprefs this efteem to a 
 Proteftant nobleman, unlefs it was by fome little token 
 like the prefent ? As the Earl amufed himfelf at the 
 Vatican, one day, he happened to throw his eyes on 
 this piece ; and, recollecting that he had none in his 
 extenlivc collection, by the fame hand, expreffed his 
 approbation of it. It was, therefore, with great fatis- 
 f action, that his Holinefs heard this, which he imme- 
 diately evinced, by ordering it to be conveyed to the 
 Earl's lodgings, at a very early hour, the next morn- 
 ing. Such is the brief hiftory of this piece. It was 
 furely as modeft a favour, if it may be called fuchy 
 as a nobleman of Lord Exeter's rank could requeft ; 
 and as fmall an one as a Prince of Ganganelli's 
 great foul could beftow. 
 
 " So the pilgrim, who journies all day, 
 '* To vifit fome far diftant fhrine, 
 " If he bear but a relique away, 
 * c Is happy, nor heard to repine. ' r 
 
 In the midft of a number of fnperftitious themes, 
 s(nd popifh fubjefbj like antidote to poifon, the great 
 
 reformer 1 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE* yg 
 
 reformer, Martin Luther, is feen to advance his 
 head, with a boldnefs and audacity all his own. If 
 the character is to be underftood by that legible index 
 the countenance, then furely may we perufe Luther's 
 in this piece, with fome degree of truth. In the 
 fame apartment is a fine original picture, full length, 
 of the unfortunate Charles the Firft, by old Palma; 
 andj near it, all his young family, in one large piece, 
 by the fame artift. The faithful large maftiif, on the 
 head of which the young Prince of Wales is feen 
 to reft his arm, is itfelf an effort of great and very 
 natural execution. Cromwell, the King's old enemy, 
 painted by Walker* is exhibited in another part of 
 the houfe ; and it feems highly probable, that this 
 picture of Charles, and that of his family, wercj 
 neither of them placed here, till long after the Usurp- 
 er's death. What immunity or compaflion could 
 Burghley have received, as it did from Cromwell, 
 had they been then vifible ? Here we muft not forget, 
 with punic faith, like his own, a finking head of 
 Hannibal, the crafty Carthaginian, the mortal foe o§ 
 ihe Romans. 
 
 As many of the pictures are changed from roora 
 to room, it is by no means neceflary to defcribe? 
 them in a ftrict method. For this reafon, with a 
 confiderable hiatus between, we fhall mention the 
 beautiful reprefentation of an Angel conveying the 
 foul of a Child into Heaven, by the Rev. William 
 Peters, on the fouth fide of the houfe. So charm- 
 ingly is it executed, that it is impoffible to fay, which 
 is the moft angelic, the child or the angel. Moll 
 
 pralfe 
 
HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 praife, however, redounds to the artift for his execu- 
 tion of the former, as it is expreffrve of an idea, which 
 feems peculiarly his own ; wMlfi the latter pofTeftes 
 nothing which diftinguilhes it from the reft of guardian 
 and good angels. From this large original piece, a 
 ftranger may have feen fome excellent copper-plates 
 taken, and difplayed in the print (hops of the Metro- 
 polis, The angel is obfervcd to point upwards with 
 his left band, in a beautiful curve ; and, though cuftom 
 may have deemed the ufe of "it awkward among 
 mortals, we know of no fuch exception attached to the 
 hoft above. The gliftening appearance of the child's 
 raiment, and that air of ineffable fweet fimplicity, with 
 which it is reprefented entering into a world of blifs, 
 is hardly to be equalled, and certainly not furpafled. 
 
 In the fame apartment, is feen Fame, adorning 
 the tomb of Shakespear ; and Maria and her little 
 Goat, from Sterne, by Angelica Kauffman. In 
 another, four circular pieces, by the fame Lady, Abel- 
 ard making love to Eloisaj the Death of Eloisa, 
 with the prieft and attendants ; the conteft between 
 Pleafure and Prudence ; and Pleafure victorious. 
 Angelica Kauffman was born at Coire, the 
 capital of the Grifons, in Switzerland, who, mewing 
 from her infancy, a great genius for her pencil, received 
 every afliftance that her father, Joseph Kauffman, 
 could give. She fpent the early part of her life with 
 him in the Valtiline, at Como, and at Milan, returning 
 occaiionally to their native country ; but, being defirous 
 of farther improvement, they, in 1 761 , travelled to 
 Rome, where me received great inftruclions from 
 Pompeio Battoni. After me had ftudied the works 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. 8! 
 
 of Cor reg io, fhe vifited Naples, Florence, Parma and 
 Bologna, profiting from her refidence in thefe cities, 
 by copying their paintings. In 1763, fhe came to 
 England, and found great encouragement ; but the 
 climate difagrecing with Mr. Kaupfman, they, in 
 1 779, returned once more to their native country. 
 
 £efides thefe pictures by Angelica Kauffman, 
 this elegant apartment, in various pieces, is feen to fport 
 in birds, and bloom in flowers. The fictitious grapes, 
 which hang here, feem the fpontaneous productions of 
 the real vine-yard ; and the different wall fruits to fmile 
 with the true and genuine complexions of nature* 
 The Duck-hunt is here one of the fined we ever 
 witneiTed ; nor can the eagernefs of the different water 
 fpaniels, or the different ducks, in diving and flying, 
 be well equalled. In the apartment next the Jewel 
 Clofet, the floor of which is laid with the beft oak, 
 cut into the fhape of diamonds, and the deling 
 fuperbly painted by Verrio, there is a vail profufiori 
 of fine pieces by the firfl hands ; and, indeed, where 
 is there a fpace at Burghley, unfolicited and unpof- 
 fefTed by the chifel, or the pencil ? The martyrdom 
 of St. Andrew is here reprefented, by Travisani ; 
 The three goddcfTes are here feen to fend Mercury 
 on an embaiTy to Paris, by Rubens. Here is the 
 Holy Family, by Schidoni 5 and the finding of 
 Moses, in three different pieces, by Titian, Tem- 
 pest a, and Schiavoni. Rinaldo and Armida 9 
 Annibal by Caracchi ; Christ, fleeping with angels, 
 and the emblems of the Paflion, by Nicholas Pous- 
 sin. The Infant Christ, by Baccici; the Head of 
 
g 2 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 St. John, a fketch by Parmegtano; the Flight into 
 Egypt, by Carlo Dolci ; and the Return out of 
 Egypt, by Spa^noletto ; St. Peter, by Domeni- 
 chino; and the Boy and Pigeon, by Guido, 
 
 In fuch a variety of art and beauty, criticlfm is 
 loft ; and rather difpofed to mufe with admiration, 
 than rifk itfelf by immature determination. Perfons, 
 who never beheld the Vatican, may find a nearly 
 equal gratification here, in lieu of it ; and, as we are 
 ilruck with paintings after paintings, we are almoft 
 induced to utter fimifar exclamations to thofe of 
 Mackbeth, at the fight of the feven vifioriary kings f 
 The Boy and Pigeon, by Guido, exemplify that 
 character for gentlenete and grace, to which tills Artift 
 is fo eminently entitled. We will venture to pro* 
 nounce them like no other Boy and Pigeon in the 
 univerfe, while they poffefs a degree of expretfion 
 which is feldom found in either. The Earl's houfe- 
 Iteward, who fucceeded fo well in his copy of Christ, 
 from Carlo Dolci, has imitated this, as well as 
 that of his miftrefs, from Domenichino; but, as they 
 are not yet made public, we know not with what fuc- 
 cefs. Nicholas Poussin, who here appears, was born 
 in Normandy, and is faid to have been the prince of 
 the French painters, judgment and force of expreffion 
 are his characleriftics : an eminent critic imagined he 
 copied Raphael ; and that, in fome pieces, he does 
 not fall fhort of him ; though he could not, in gene- 
 ral, attain his eafe, vivacity, and grace. He was not 
 only a great mailer of expreflion f but fet off his pieces 
 
 with 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 83 
 
 With buildings in a very beautiful and fingular flyle. 
 His beft are his Esther before Ahasuerus, the 
 Slaughter of the Innocents, and the Death of Germa- 
 nic us, which are to be feen in the Barbarini palace at 
 Rome. 
 
 Much to the affiftance of a ftranger, there are, in 
 every apartment, correct lifts of the different paintings, 
 in little mahogany glafs frames, about the fize and 
 lhape of a painter's pallet. As thefe, in general, depend 
 from a brafs nail, behind each of the window-lhutters, 
 he has nothing to do, as he enters each room, in or- 
 der to gratify his curiofity, but to take them down j 
 and, as he goes out, to reftore them to their former 
 place. The attention which is Ihewn, by preventing 
 the fun from injuring thefe fine pieces, in keeping the 
 fhutters continually clofed, unlefs when company ar- 
 rives, is, we imagine, but a proper precaution, the 
 benefit of which has been very fufHciently proved by 
 experience. 
 
 9 % 
 
 SECT, 
 
84 HISTORY OF BUHGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 SECT, X. 
 
 jMLuCH as painting has been ad* 
 nvred in all ages, it may be doubted whether the 
 firft pieces, by the moll accomplilhed mailers, even 
 while their colours endure, deliver to us a truly ac- 
 curate idea of deceafed worthies. It is neither the 
 picture nor the ftatue of an Alexander the Great, 
 represented by his own Apelles or Lysippus, 
 which holds always up to pofterity a genuine mirror 
 of departed greatnefs. Certain we are, that no two 
 perfons differ more from each other, in appearance, 
 than one and the fame perfon, from himfelf, when 
 taken by two different hands ; and, as each artift pof- 
 fefTcs his peculiar merit, it defcends, as a thing of 
 courfc, on a fubjecl: who, fometimes, deferves it leaft. 
 Where dignity, eafe, or grace, is the peculiar charac- 
 teriftic of the artift, the mod homefpun gueft, who 
 fits to him, will be endowed with it ; but, mould he, 
 3n common, fail in cither of thcfe, fo would a Venous 
 and Minerva too, had they become his fubjects. 
 This, however, is not all. It is more the bufinefs of 
 the painter, than even the poet, to flatter well ; and, 
 
 as 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 85 
 
 is his intereft particularly depends on it, it is impof- 
 fible to expeft from him any thing like real veracity. 
 
 While fine painting is the effeft of great art, and 
 the fource of much pleafure, nothing, perhaps, ever 
 came fo near the truth, as the art, praftifed among the 
 Egyptians, of embalming their dcceafed friends. This, 
 preferving every feature, expofed defects, as well as 
 beauties ; and, to what purpofe could a man hoaft of a 
 deformed or unpleafant anceftor, when his neighbour 
 could immediately confront, as well as confute, him, 
 with a view of the preferved mummy ? As this, how- 
 ever, held up but a gloomy profpect to mankind, who 
 love to be flittered both in life and death, it is not 
 wonderful, that it refigncd its place to the more en- 
 gaging views of human nature ; and, as : painting is 
 arrayed with many charms, we have inftalled her into 
 it, with all the extravagance of men who dote. How 
 greatly the pencil difplayed its powers in ancient days, 
 we h.ave already ihewn ; but, where is there the virtu- 
 ofo, who can now, any more preferve his fpoufe by 
 paint, than he can by pickle ? Even, in our own time, 
 the colours of fome, who are called great artifh, are 
 feen to fade away ; to the great terror of many who, 
 by that event, predidl the immediate diflblution of the 
 great originals. 
 
 That painters will, fometimes, fit down to paint 
 from fancy, when they polTefs an original too coarfe, 
 Anne of Cleves, one of the wives of Henry the 
 Eighth, will furnifh us with woeful proof. Holbein, 
 g 3 the 
 
86 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 the greateft artifl. of his time, being difpatched by 
 Cromwell to take this lady, praclifed the common 
 flattery of his profeflion fo well, that he proved the 
 immediate caufe of the deftru&ion of that great fub- 
 jec\ and of the difgrace that afterwards fell on her. 
 He drew fo favourable a likenefs, that Henry was 
 content to wed her ; but, when he found her fo in- 
 ferior to her miniature, the ftorm which really fhould 
 have been directed at the painter, burft on the minif- 
 ter; and Cromwell loll his head, becaufe Anne waj 
 a Flanders' mare, not a Venus, as Holbein had re* 
 prefented her. 
 
 The flattery, which the Artifl: fo plentifully beftows 
 on thofe who fit to him, generally terminates in him- 
 felf at laft ; and of this we poflefs a firiking inftance 
 in Van Sot to Cleefe, an induftrious painter of 
 Antwerp. His colouring was good, and his figures 
 flelhy and round ; but, before he arrived at the per- 
 feclion he might have attained, his head was turned 
 with vanity ; a misfortune, fays his hiftorian, not un- 
 common to the profeflion, who, living fecluded from 
 the world, and feeing little but their own creation 
 riling round them, grow intoxicated with the magic of 
 their own performances. Sir Godfrey Kneller and 
 Jervase are both reported to have been the children 
 of exceflive vanity. Pope, who had contributed, in 
 fome meafure, to flatter the firft into it, was determin- 
 ed, one day, to put it to a full proof; and, as Sir 
 Godfrey was taking his picture, cbferved to him, 
 Sir Godfrey, I believe, if God had confulted you 
 in the creation of the world, we fhould have feen it 
 
 more 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 87 
 
 more pcrfcfl than it is :" 4c Fore God, Sir," replied 
 Sir Godfrey, " I believe fo" A mechanic of the 
 lowelt order introduced his fon to him, on fome occa- 
 fion, with the idea of his being bred a painter ; but 
 Sir Godfrey, with a more devout air than ufual, 
 gave him this anfwer, " Oh man, man, none but 
 God Almighty makes painters." A fimilar anecdote or 
 two is related of Jervase, and fome others; and, 
 when the entertainment we receive from them is well 
 weighed, we may pardon a few frailties which originate 
 jjrom a fource of fo much beauty and merit. 
 
 SECT, 
 
88 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 
 JEWEL CLOSET. 
 
 Though this apartment is but tea 
 feet and a half each way, and about twelve from the 
 floor to the cornice, it is, perhaps, one of the moil 
 cxpenfive of its fize in the whole kingdom. Its 
 wainfeoat is formed of the fineft cedar woodj which, 
 finding forth a continual fragrance, is, at all times, as 
 grateful to the noftrils as the fight. The middle 
 fpaces, or pannels, are elegantly inlaid with a charming 
 damafked iky coloured fatin, the edges of which, in 
 the cedar, are fuperbly gilt around. The cieling is 
 fo highly adorned by the hand of Verrio, that it 
 feems to breathe empyreal air, and, as it rifes, in a fine 
 arch, from the golden gilt cornice on each fide, dif- 
 plays the imaginary deities, enthroned there, with 
 double radiance and luftre ! Thefe, excepting Fortune, 
 who is drawn blind, are principally Cupids in different 
 attitudes and directions ; and one of them, difplaying 
 a ftreamer in his hand, difcovers thefe words from 
 
 Virgil's 
 
HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. $g 
 
 Virgil's tenth Eclogue, " omnia <vincit amor" Gibbons, 
 as well as Verrio, appears to have here done his 
 utmoft, as there are excellent imitations of billing doves, 
 fruits, flowers, &c. by his hand, carved out of the 
 folid wood ! Oppofite the full light of a large win- 
 dow, through panes of the fineft glafs, elegantly framed 
 in the form of a door, a fpeclator may now give way 
 to all the ardour and glow of what is generally called 
 virtu, by permitting his eyes to pry, unrellrained, into 
 the Jewel receis ! Among many curiofities, he will 
 obferve a golden bafon and fpoon ; the laft of which 
 is faid to have been ufed at the Coronation of Queen 
 Elisabeth. The Rofary or Beads of Mary, the 
 unfortunate Queen of Scots, and which furely 
 were wet with as many tears as thofe of either penitent 
 or nun, cannot fail to excite his attention ; and, if he 
 has a breaft to be touched by the fufferings of injured 
 Majefty, all his fympathy and compaflion. In the fame 
 groupe he will alfo difcern the bulk of her Royal 
 Rival, the political Elisabeth, whofe ftrangely 
 mingled character hath puzzled the fagacity of judicious 
 hiftorians to develope and explain. In addition to a 
 vail deal of enamelled work, little vafes of golden filli- 
 grane, amber, diamonds, pearls, and other curiofities, the 
 fpeclator will be gratified with a fight of fome of the 
 moft delicate pictures in miniature, by Cowper, Mrs. 
 Carlisle, and others. 
 
 Not many years ago, this valuable clofet was 
 rifled of fome of its effects, through the villany of - a 
 iet of perfons, who, it is fuppofed, in the way of 
 other ftrangers, had originally come to fee the houfe. 
 
 Through 
 
5 a HISTORY OF BtfRGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Through a fenfe of confcious guilt, however, or an 
 ignorance of their profeflion, they executed their bufinefs 
 in a very fuperficial manner; and relinquifhed, on the 
 road, fome of the few articles which they had fo 
 ignominioufly filched away. To guard againft any 
 future attempts of the kind, a couple of watchmen arc 
 mow conftantly kept in waiting throughout the night ; 
 in the courfe of which, fhould a ftranger awake, while 
 they are crying their rounds, and the large chapel 
 clock chiming the quarter or half hour, he may, by 
 an involuntary exertion of mind, imagine himfelf in the 
 neighbourhood of the metropolis. 
 
 Over the jewel recefs is difplayed one of the 
 moft pleafing pictures in the whole collection of Burgh- 
 ley, by Carlo Maratti, whofe principal excellence 
 lay, as we are informed, by a great connoifTeur, in 
 the art of depicting the harmony and beauty of the 
 human features. It is a representation of the Virgin 
 and the Infant Chrift while afleep ; who is attended 
 by a groupe of other infant figures, but, at an age 
 conliderably more advanced. That look of fweet, 
 modelt, and ferene delight, which the Artift has infufed 
 into the countenance of the Virgin -Mother, as flie 
 fpreads a light fleecy mantle over the body of her 
 Sleeping child, as well as into the countenance of her 
 attendant, can never be fufficiently praifed or admired. 
 The mute attention, which his pathetic pencil depicts 
 in the features of the other children, who feem to 
 protect and prolong his fleep ; the affectionate ex- 
 preflion in the little boy, who hangs over him, with 
 his finger on his mouth, as if to impofe fiknee on the 
 
 reft; 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 91 
 
 reft ; the feparate intereft in the face of each, and 
 the joint intereft which they all appear to poflefs in 
 him alone, are all ftrokes as exguifitely tender as they 
 are fublime! The very new blown rofe itfelf, which 
 feems to have put out upon this occafion, and to have 
 fallen negligently down by his fide, is not without 
 its beauty ; while the very fuperior degree of expreffion, 
 in the countenance and complexion of the youth, who 
 looks from a corner of the picture, is fuch as feems, 
 not fo much to predict, as really to apprehend, fome 
 great and very lingular event, like the prefent ! 
 
 Jam nova progenies ccelo demittilur alto. 
 
 A ftranger, who gazes upon it, for any length of 
 time, by himlelf, will, infeniibly, be impreffed with 
 fenfations of that awe and ftillnefs, which it fo forcibly 
 infpires ; and, fhould mingled fenfations furprife his 
 cheeks with tears, they are fuch as we might naturally 
 expect from iuch a piece reprefented in fo maiterly a 
 manner ! 
 
 This fine Artift has been faid to have been emi- 
 nent in drapery, and for painting Madonnas. There 
 is a portrait of one of the Earls of Exeter by him, 
 who efteemed him fo much as to collect a great part 
 of his works. 
 
 This, with Carlo Dolci's fine picture of the 
 Meffiah ; a third, which hangs over the door ; and 
 Seignior Verrio's, are all the paintings in this apart- 
 ment, which is very properly diftinguifhed by the 
 
 appellation 
 
9 2 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE, 
 
 appellation of the Jevsel Clofet. Simple, though mag* 
 iiificcnt, and with nature curious, it far furpafies any 
 thing of the kind in the laboured habitations of 
 Wooburn Abbey or Stow ; and excites, by thefe pieces 
 of Meffiah, in his infancy and prime, all the charming 
 fenfations of devotion, without its frequent concomitant, 
 an attendant gloom. In a direction immediately under 
 this-, on the firft floor, there is another clofet fet oiF 
 with rich trinkets, in a manner fomcwhat fimilar, but 
 not in fo magnificent a ftyle as the prefent. It con- 
 tains a variety of excellent pictures, fome of which it 
 fhall be our bufinefs to celebrate and explain upon fome 
 future occafion. Under the fubjec*t of miniatures, we 
 would not omit to mention one of Anna Sophia 
 Chambers, Countefs of Exeter. As an emblem 
 ©f her deceafe, this little piclure has been placed on 
 the left pinion of the figure of Time ; who Hands over 
 the mantle-piece, in the drawing room ; and is, we 
 believe, the fourth monument, great and fmall, which 
 has been fet up in commemoration of the merit of this 
 Lady. She feems from this to have been a very 
 charming woman, who is drawn in a very charming 
 manner ; and feduces the mind, with melancholy re- 
 flection, to brood over the fate of thofe, who have fa 
 often trod the fame magnificent fcenes before us I 
 
 When, however, to the filent enquiries of our 
 fouls u Where are they ?" and we feem, alas, to catch 
 the whifper, that even their affluent pofleflbrs are, now, 
 no more, we cannot but become infenfibly grieved ; 
 and, returning from the paths of worldly fplendor, 
 but" endeavour to cultivate our envn little fort'ion^ 
 
 while 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. g? 
 
 -while we flay here, with cheerttllnefs and true con- 
 tent of heart* 
 
 Among the paintings of Burghley Houfe, there 
 are none more eminently confpicuous than the portrait 
 of our Divine Saviour Jesus Christ blefling the ele- 
 ments; a half-length, by the hand of that great artid 
 Carlo Dolci ; which, as in a fanctuary, hangs in 
 the Jewel Gofer, and faces the door. Mr. Peck, in 
 his Defiderata Curiofa, fpeaks of this piece in the 
 moil lavifh terms of encomium j and, though it is now 
 more than lixty years fince that gentleman wrote, k 
 ilill exifts as frefh and beautiful as ever. 
 
 To enable the fpectator more perfectly to under- 
 hand, and if poflible to feel, it, the fubject from 
 which it is taken is exprefled in fine copper-plate cha- 
 racters, in a little ebony glafs cafe, which hangs on the 
 right of the picture, and runs in the- following words : 
 
 Publius Lentulus his Letter to the Senate of Rome. 
 " Confcript Fathers, 
 
 M There appears, in thefe our days, a man of great 
 virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet living among 
 us ; and of the Gentiles is accepted for a prophet of 
 truth i but his own difciples call him the fon of God. 
 He raifeth the dead, and cureth all manner of difeafes ; 
 a man of ftature, fomewhat tall and comely, with a 
 very reverend countenance, fuch as the beholders may 
 both love and fear; his hair the colour of a filbert, 
 full ripe, to his ears ; whence downward, it is more 
 
 orient 
 
94 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY rfOUSE. 
 
 Orient of colour, fome what curling or waving about 
 his fhoulders. In the midft of his head is a feam or 
 partition of his hair, after the manner of the Naza- 
 rites ; his forehead plain and delicate ; his face with- 
 out fpot or wrinkle, beautified by a comely red ; his 
 nofe and mouth exa&ly formed ; his beard thick, the 
 colour of his hair, not of any great length, but fork* 
 cd ; his look is innocent, his eyes grey, clear and 
 quick ; in reproving awful, in admonifhing courteous, 
 in fpeaking very modeft and wife ; in proportion of 
 body well ihaped ; none have feen him laugh, but 
 many have feen him weep; a man, for his lingular 
 beauty, furpaffing the children of men." 
 
 Though it is not here expreJTed, wc apprehend 
 this quotation to have been taken from the fourth 
 volume of the Turkifh Spy, where we have feen it, as 
 well as in fome other authors. The picture, however, 
 accords to a tittle with this letter; and, as we behold 
 it, we cannot but think it agrees, in fome meafure, 
 with the charming ideas which Milton formed of his 
 Adam, when he fays, 
 
 f< Hyacinthin locks 
 " Round from his parted forelock manly hung 1 
 *« Cluttering, but not beneath his fhoulders broad 
 
 and, that it is likewife not improbable, that this great 
 poet's imagination of the firfi Adam was greatly afM- 
 ed by the very circumftantial account, which is given 
 us, in this letter, of the fecond* Never, certainly, were 
 ferene fweetnefs and benevolence more happily touched 
 and difplayed than they are in this piece. 
 
 Fa? 
 
HISTORY OF BIKCBLIY HOUSE. 95 
 
 Far from that look of reproof, which he is fup- 
 pofed to give to Zebedee's wife, when fhe petitions 
 him, in behalf of her two fons James and John, as 
 it is fublimely delineated over the Communion Table, 
 in the Chapel* — his features dawn nothing but that 
 gentle fort of contemplation, which aflbciates itfelf with 
 the moft holy devotion. The mouth, which is beauti- 
 fully fmail, and as the ruby red, gives tis, by its 
 hollownefs, the idea of a perfon in the act of adora- 
 tion ; while the eyes are call upwards, with fuch 
 a look of fweet and fublime fincerity, as really :to 
 pluck down the bleflings and graces they implore. The 
 divinity i which feems to fir within it., has thrown a 
 Crown of light and glory round it, which Time may 
 mellow, but can fcarce decay; and the artift's execution 
 is, in every part, fo thoroughly in conformity with his 
 conception, that this mafter-piece of art may well be 
 faid to verify the fublime declaration, contained in the 
 epiftle from Publius Lentulus to the Confcript Fathers, 
 that he was a man, who, for his fingular beauty, was 
 really fur p offing the children of men. 
 
 His Lordihip's houfe-fteward, who pofiefies an ad- 
 mirable genius for the art, without any cultivation, but 
 what he derived from his own practice and obferva- 
 tion, has taken a moft exact copy of this piece ; which 
 itfelf, if we had not feen the original, we mould pro- 
 nounce the production of a very fine hand. Time, 
 however, which is the great touchflone of the painter's 
 merit, will one day balance its real worth ) and, either 
 record it with the venerable productions of ancient 
 days, or fweep it down the flood, in the general and 
 
 univerfil 
 
96 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 univerfal wreck. Thus much have we premifed of this 
 this piece ; and, as there has never yet been any thing 
 like a tolerable defcription of Burghley publiflied, it 
 is but fair to declare, that the perfon, who would da 
 it ftricl julV.ce, muft write feveral long pages on almoft 
 every picture, and, on its whole collection of curiofi* 
 ties, a volume of no common fize ! 
 
 SECT* 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 SECT. XL 
 
 OF SEIGNIOR VERRIO, AND SOME OF HIS WORKS, 
 
 of pi&ures on facred fubjecls at Burgh ley, the 
 production of Artifts who were devoted to the faith 
 and fuperilitions of Rome, we mult view Verrio in 
 the light of a heretic and renegado, for having 
 turned ailde, from his brethren, into the abfurd paths, 
 and monftrous fables, of pagan Theology. After fo 
 many excellent catholic pieces, on the Holy Family, and 
 Dead Christ, a proof of ftill greater numbers in the 
 fame country, the painter deferves a doom more fevere, 
 from a people who lay fo great a ftrefs upon out- 
 ward ornament, than even fome of their phiiofophers 7 
 for fpeculative, and other feeminglv indifferent, points. 
 Whether, as a rebellious fon of the church, he was but 
 poorly encouraged at home, we cannot tell 4 t though it- 
 is evident, that the fupport he received in this king- 
 dom, induced him to labour among us for fome years ; 
 antt ? when full of days, and ripe with honours, to 
 
 HEN w T e confider the great variety 
 
 depofe 
 
9 8 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 depofit his bones, at laft, in the Court of Queen 
 Anne. 
 
 According to Lord Or ford, he was an excellent 
 painter for the fort of fubjecls on which he was em- 
 ployed, that is, without much invention, fays the 
 author, and lefs tafte, his exuberant pencil was ready 
 at pouring out gods, goddefles, kings, emperors, and 
 triumphs, over thofe public furfaces on which the eye 
 never refts long enough to criticife, and where one 
 fhould be forry to place the works of a better mafler ; 
 I mean, cielings and flair- cafes. The New Teftament, 
 or the Roman Hiflory, coll: him nothing but ultra- 
 marine; that, and marble columns and marble fteps, 
 he never fpared. 
 
 He firft fettled in France, and painted the high 
 altar of the Carmelites at Thouloufe, which is defcribed 
 in Du Puy's " Traite fur la Peinture," page 219. 
 Charles the Second having a mind to revive the 
 manufacture of tapeftry at Mortlack, which had been 
 interrupted by the civil war, fent for Verrio to 
 England ; but, changing his purpofe, configned over 
 Windfor to his pencil. The king was induced to 
 this, by feeing fome of his painting at Lord Arling- 
 ton's, at the end of St. James's Park, where at pre- 
 fent ftands Buckingham Houfe. The firft piclure 
 Verrio drew for the King, was his Majeny in na- 
 val triumph, now in the public dining room in the 
 caftle. He executed moft of the cielings there, one 
 whole fide of St. George's Hall, and the chapel. 
 
 O* 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 99 
 
 On the cieling of the former, he has pictured 
 Anthony Earl of Shaftefbury, in the character of 
 Faction, difperling libels ; as, in another place, he re- 
 venged a private quarrel in a manner fomewhat limi- 
 lar. Six thoufand eight hundred and forty five pounds, 
 eight (hillings and fourpence was the fum he received 
 for his different paintings at Windfor. The bell piece 
 of his hand is the Incredulity of St. Thomas, ex- 
 prelTed over the altar, in the chapel at Chatfworth. 
 His eyes failing, Queen Anne gave him a penfion of 
 200I. a year for life ; but he did not enjoy it long, 
 dying at Hampton Court in 1707. 
 
 He is recorded as operator of all thefe gattdy 
 works, in a large infeription over the tribune at the 
 end of the Hall at Windfor. 
 
 Antonius Verrio Neapolitans 
 Non ignobili ftirpe natus 
 Ad honorem Dei, 
 Auguftiflimi Regis Caroli fecundi 
 et 
 
 Sancli Georgii 
 Molem hanc feliciflima man^a 
 Decoravit. 
 
 After he had firiifhed his labours at Winafcr 
 GaMe, he was invited to Burchley, by one of the 
 Earls of Exeter, who fupported him in a great 
 flyle, and allowed him a very fplendid equipage. 
 Lord Or ford's opinion of Verrio is fufRcient, in 
 fome meafure, to obliterate the feemingly ievere to* 
 
 n 2 flection 
 
100 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 flection of Mr, Pope ; who, from his being conftantly 
 engaged in painting cielings, has been pleafed to make 
 mention of " Verrio's fprawling faints." Verrio 
 was not, however, the firft man of genius who had 
 fuiFered by the poet's fpleen ; for, as it too often in- 
 fpired him, fo could he, with as great addrefs, turn 
 the lines of a character into any direction he thought 
 proper. To defcribe each particular figure, which 
 Verrio poured forth upon the cielings of Burgh- 
 ley Houfe, would be, in facl, to write a new 
 Pantheon, or a complete hiftory of all the heathen 
 gods ; a work which has been already performed 
 with fufficient accuracy and fkill. We mall, therefore, 
 touch only on a few ; and, among the firit of thefe, 
 upon the Jupiter and Juno, whom he has been pleafed 
 to enthrone upon the Zenith of the Cieling of the 
 large room called Heaven. The Jupiter of Verrio, 
 to fay the truth, feems to polTefs more of what we 
 may conceive to have been the grave, terreilrial ma- 
 jefty of old prolific King Priam,. Latinus^ or even 
 Romulus, than any thing of the true Deity, who 
 fpoke to his people from between the Cherubims, 
 which adorned the Mercy-Seat on each fide. Accord- 
 ing to the painter, he is, what Vircil has before 
 called him, a mere " Rex Jupiter omnibus idem 
 and feems not fo attentive to the affairs of heaven 
 and earth, as to the goddefs Juno, his fpoufe, whom, 
 in a very amorous manner, he chucks, with his right 
 hand, under the chin. This lady he has drawn fome- 
 what more than what we call en bon point; for, not 
 tQ mince the matter, fhe appear* to. have throve fo. 
 
 miracu- 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 101 
 
 niiraculoully, fince tranflated into his Mahometan hea- 
 ven, as to be now downright fat and lufty. She 
 looks, however, extremely good-natured ; and, though 
 an ethereal being, does not appear to participate in 
 the enjoyments of a fingle chubb, goddefs beyond her- 
 fclf. Though Verrio had before, when at Windfor, 
 drawn the houfe-keeper one of the furies ; iince put 
 one of the females, at Bupghley, who offended 
 him, into his fabulous reprefentation of Hell ; and 
 even depicled a dignitary of the church, whom he 
 difliked, under the figure of Bacchus, with fwollen 
 cheeks, it an ding upon a hogfhead, in the prefent room, 
 called Heaven, he has had the effrontery to draw his 
 own figure in the fame, by the fide of the Cyclops, 
 who are forging their thunderbolts. 
 
 Though his profeft intention in painting was not, 
 like Hogarth, to paint fatires ; yet, from thefe in- 
 ftances, it would feern, that he never loft an oppor- 
 tunity of revenging himfelf, when it occurred. His 
 own figure is efteemed like him ; and, by its high 
 Roman nofe, and open countenance, affords us, as 
 much as phyfiognomy can do, a juir idea of his cha- 
 racter, as well as of the country from whence he 
 came. Among this great variety of celellial beings, he 
 has defcribed a beautiful iris or rainbow, on the he- 
 mifphere of the Cyclops; and, on the oppoiite, Apollo 9 
 as a type of the fun, its immediate caufe* 
 
 Ergo Iris croceis per coelum rofcida pennis, 
 Mille trahens varios adverfo fole colore* 
 Devolat. 
 
 » 3 Here 
 
 / 
 
102 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Here too is Venus, detected by her hufband, in 
 the embraces of the god Mars ; who, as a mere 
 image of voluptuous defire, is not to be too much 
 commended or praifel. The frefhnefs of his colours, 
 and the fund of his invention, notwhhftanding what 
 has been urged againft it, are, perhaps, more to be 
 applauded than his outline ; and, when the arduous 
 and painful fituation of the artift, in painting a ciel- 
 ing, is confidered, he feems to deferve our approba- 
 tion, in a more eminent degree than moil: of hjs 
 profefijon. 
 
 In painting a portable picture, however large, it 
 is in the power of the artill to adjuft it in a manner, 
 which bePc fuits his light or convenience ; but in a 
 deling, he muft continue on his legs or knees, on a 
 high fcafFold, with every difadvantage ; and, inftead of 
 an eafy horizontal pofition of his whole body, throw 
 his head back, in a perpendicular one, to the great 
 danger of breaking his neck, until the whole be com- 
 plete. The peculiar difficulty of this fituation would 
 induce one to think, that the planks of the cieling, 
 after they were fketched out and planned, were taken 
 down ; and, after the artift had completed his labours, 
 were again reftored to their proper place. It was 
 the great fatigue, perhaps, attendant on painting of this 
 kind, which fo often induced Verrio to withdraw 
 from Burghley to Stamford, for relaxation; from 
 whence he could not be dragged by the Earl, to his 
 unfinifhed .taft, without great importunity, and large 
 dofes of claret. 
 
 As 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 103 
 
 As foon as we leave this magnificently painted 
 room, we are ulhered immediately into that called 
 Hell, characterized by Milton as, 
 
 « the doleful fhades, 
 
 u Where hope never comes, that comes to all." 
 
 Fortunately, however, there is a path to efcape from 
 this fabulous place of torment, by a handfome geo- 
 metrical ftone ltair-cafe, which leads into the old 
 Gothic hall below. It was executed by one Johnson, 
 of King-ftreet, Golden-fquare, in a very light and 
 elegant manner ; though the fine ftone pillars, which 
 now fupport the landing place above, were fubftituted, 
 through unavoidable difappointment, in the place of more 
 expenfive and magnificent marble. 
 
 Our readers will pofTefs a more ftriking idea of 
 Verrio's performance in this apartment, by perufing 
 the following fine lines, defcriptive of Hell, from the 
 fixth book of the ^Eneid, than from any account we 
 can render them. 
 
 Veftibulum ante ipfum primifq ; in faucibus Orci, 
 Lucius et Ultrices pofuere cubilia curae ; 
 Pallentefq ; habitant morbi, triftifq ; feneclus, 
 Et metus, et malefuada Fames, et turpis egeftas, 
 Terribiles vifu formse : Lethumq ; laborq ; 
 Turn confanguineus Lethi fopor, et mala mentis 
 Gaudia, mortiferumq ; adverfo in limine bellum, 
 Ferreiq ; Eumenidum thalami, et difcordia demens 
 Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis. 
 
 Probability, however, would have fufFered lefs violation, 
 
 h 4 if 
 
IC+ HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 if Signior Verrio had placed it a little farther from 
 the neighbourhood of Heaven, which he might eafily 
 have done, by painting a Popifh Purgatory between 
 them. The figures are all executed in this arartment 
 in as mafterly a manner as in the former ; and, in 
 no place, do we perceive what that fage antiquarian 
 Mr. Peck has been pleafed to reprefent as an Italian 
 bite. What he aflens, therefore, to be the effect of 
 the dung of one of the devils, and fuppofed by the 
 ignorant to proceed from an infirm deling, is now no 
 where to be found ; fo that he was either originally 
 wrong in conjeclure, or this apparent blemifh has 
 been fince carefully effaced, by fome other hand. 
 
 SECT, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 SECT. XII, 
 
 FARTHER ANECDOTES OF VERRIO, AND SOMETHING 
 
 Burghley muft have been considerable, from the fum, 
 of fifteen hundred a year, which he received from 
 the Earl, while he refided there ; yet it would feem, 
 as if he had been treated with no great ceremony, by 
 the fervants and other guefts. Among the names of the 
 fixty- three perfons, who made up the Earl of Exeter's 
 family, as it flood April 25th 1694, Mr, Peck has 
 been pleafed, though he forgot the fcullion, to dis- 
 tribute him into the fame groupe with the page, the 
 caterer, and the poftillion. Is it not therefore pro- 
 bable, that he excited in them more ridicule, for 
 jabbering bad Englifh, than refpecl for the exertions of 
 fine painting ? As perfons, ignorant of merit, yet dif- 
 
 OFLA GUERRE. 
 
 HOUGH Verrio's reputation at 
 
 cem 
 
!C6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 cern defers, it is not unlikely, that they confidered him 
 as an ufurping foreigner, whofe commands deferved 
 contempt ; and that he looked upon them, in return, 
 as flaves, who could never fufficiently underftand, nor 
 adore his genius. 
 
 An artift, fo much carelTed by the Nobility, at 
 their different feats, could not but, in fome meafure, 
 be blown up ; the confequence being, that, by the do- 
 meftics of their families, he was fure to be blown upon % 
 or blown down. As to the fervants, it is evident, 
 from his conduct, that he claimed a right to com- 
 mand the men; and, when his claret loving blood 
 founded the alarm, to enjoy the women. Being ex- 
 tremely expenfive, he kept a great table ; and fo often 
 preffed Charles the Second for money, that, prodigal 
 as he was, his Majefty did not well know how to 
 refufe it. At Hampton Court, one day, when he had 
 recently received a thoufand pounds, he found the 
 King in fuch a throng, that lie could not well ap- 
 proach him. He contrived, however, to exclaim, 
 u Sire, Sire," as loud as he could bawl, " I defire 
 the honour of prefenting your Majelty a petition ;" — 
 to which his Majefty returned, <c Well, Verrio, 
 what is it?"— " Mcney y money, Sire," replied Verrio, 
 with confidence and great emphafis : " I am fo fhort 
 in cafh, that I am unable to pay my workmen ; and 
 your Majefty and I have learned, by experience, that 
 pedlars and painters cannot give credit long." The 
 King, fmiling, obferved he had but lately ordered him 
 iQooI. " Yes, Sire," replied he, with a fluug of 
 
 nonflialance, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. XC yj 
 
 nonfhalance, u but that was foon paid away, and I 
 have no gold left." " At that rate," faid the King, 
 " you would fpend more than I do, to maintain my 
 family." — Cc True," anfwered the other, u but does 
 your Majefty, like Verrio, keep an open table?" 
 
 The Revolution being, by no means, agreeable to 
 his religion and principles, Verrio quitted his p'ace 
 at Court ; and refufed, for fome time, to labour for 
 King William; but, by the repeated perfuafion of 
 Lord Exeter, con fen ted at lait to return so it. Of 
 fome of his paintings, at Hampton Court, however, 
 and at Chatfworth, the feat of the Duke of Devon- 
 shire, he was afhamed, when he grew old. He is 
 faid, at one of thefe places, to have drawn the houfe- 
 keeper one of the furies ; and, among the fpeclators of 
 Christ's healing the fick, himfelf in a long periwig. 
 From an anecdote, preferved in the Earl of Exeter's 
 family, this great artift appears to have been a true 
 Italian, as well in temper, as he was in genius. 
 While he was engaged in the execution of his mimic 
 hell, a female fervant of great beauty re.fented the 
 gallantries of Seignior Verrio ; bul Verrio, know- 
 ing not, like a good chriftian, how to forgive an ad 
 of difdain, refigned her immediately over to an eternity 
 of hell torments : and, by delineating his old fweet- heart 
 in the midlt of his other demons and fprites, with a 
 pack of hell-hounds about her, has thus perpetuated 
 his own ikill and difgrace, by one and the fame ac"l. 
 He has, however, drawn her a very comely ghofl ; 
 and 9 though we might wilh for a mitigation of her 
 
 punifhment, 
 
ICS HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 punifhmcnt, here mull fhe ftay, as long as the colours 
 of Verrio fhall endure; and endure, perhaps, they 
 may, to the very end of time. 
 
 Louis-la-Guerre, of whom we now fpeak, 
 was born at Paris ; and, as a proof of great honour 
 and favour, received his chrifcian name of Louis, from 
 the great, oftentatious Louis the Fourteenth, Grand 
 Monarch of France, who became his god-father : though, 
 perhaps, the molt improper perfon in the world to 
 promife three things in his name, the Renunciation of 
 all the pomps and vanities of life being one. Com- 
 ing to England, in 16S3, he was employed by Ver- 
 rio ; when he painted the large ball-room at Burgh- 
 ley, which is 50 feet by 25, in a moil fuperb and 
 elegant manner. The cieling is magnificently adorned 
 with a hiftory of the planets, fuch as fuperftition, 
 blended with fable, firfl induced men to believe ; and 
 the fides with that of the eventful turns of war, 
 fuch as writers of the greateil probity, Plutarch and 
 others, have been pleafed to tranfmit. At the bottom 
 of one of thefe fine pieces of painting, which it is 
 probable the artift thought his heft, he has left us the 
 monogram of his name, Louis-la-Guerre, in letters 
 very largely infcribed. 
 
 To render a faithful account of the painting on 
 the cieling of this apartment, it may be requifite to fub- 
 pcena the deceafed artiit, from the fhades ; as no one, 
 we prefume, can underftand his philofophy fo well as 
 
 he ; 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY IIG'fJSE. l0 g 
 
 he ; though it may, perhaps, fpeak fomethmg like the 
 following language. 
 
 His canit errantem lunam folifq ; labores, 
 Unde hominum genus, ct pecudes, unde, imber 
 Et ignes : 
 
 Ar&urum, pluviafq; Hyadas, geminofq ; Triones. 
 
 From the mantle-piece to the cieling, extending 
 a great many feet each way, is a fublime reprefenta- 
 tion of Anthony and Cleopatra, the famous 
 Queen of Egypt, with her maids, in figures as large 
 as the life. Anthony, bdng wounded, in confe- 
 rence of the laft battle, which he fought with 
 Augustus, at Aclium, throws himfelf at the bottom 
 of her monument ; and, whilft his eyes turn • up, in a 
 melancholy manner, towards her, fee is feen exerting 
 herfelf to draw him into it. The fituation is certainly 
 moft intereftingly pathetic; and fuch as La Guerre 
 has atchieved with great dexterity and ikill. Oppo- 
 fite to this is the delineation of the Emperor Con- 
 stantine j who, mounted on a milk-white charger, 
 is feen contending in battle with Maxentius. The- 
 horfes, as well as the men, are here drawn as large 
 as the life; the crowds of lances, fpears, fhields, &c 
 on every fide, is immenfe ; and all the confufion of 
 war defcribed in a manner moft mafterly and awful. 
 The painting on this lide extends in length about 
 thirty feet ; and is one of the nobleft we ever law-. 
 
 At the bottom of the rocm, oppofite the light 
 of the large, fuperb and lofty fretted bow-window, 
 
 the 
 
HO HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 the Continence of Scipio, to his fair Captive, is dc- 
 jfc ribed by the fame hand. It is not improper to 
 obferve, in this place, that, at Bruges, there is a 
 painting of Scipio's Continence, that contains twenty 
 fix figures, much larger than life, being nearly ten 
 feet high. It is the joint performance of Rubens, 
 Vandyck, and Thulden ; and fo much was it 
 admired by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, that he 
 wifhed to obtain it, by purchafe. If the apartment, 
 in which it was placed, was commodious, it muft 
 have appeared both pleafing and natural ; but, if too 
 diminutive, altogether monftrous. 
 
 It is, we imagine, from the fize of the prefent 
 room at Burchley, that moll of the figures painted 
 in it, which are, perhaps, larger than men in common 
 life, feem of fuch natural proportions. If any in this 
 laft ftory is deferving of criticifm, it is the figure of 
 the Captive, who does not pofiefs all that interefting 
 expreflion, which her lituation fo ftrikingly demands. 
 Before we condemn her, however, it would be well 
 to conftder whether it is, or is not, in the power of 
 any artift whatever, to effect all that we here wifh. 
 Where paffions are fimple, and permanent, the ill fuc- 
 cefs of an artift muft expofe him indeed ; but he does 
 not feem liable to the fame cenfure, where they arc 
 compound, changeable, and rapid, as they moft un- 
 doubtedly were in the fair Captive. This is a fixa- 
 tion more eafily hit off by a performer on the ftage, 
 than by any artift, however fkilful. Surprife, gratitude, 
 and joy, mingled with a (hade cf tendcrnefs, ought to 
 
 be 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. m 
 
 be the predominant emotions of fuch a perfon ; but, 
 as they would rather fucceed one another, than poffcfs 
 her all at once, how could an artiit, whole produc- 
 tions are drawn to one point, depicl their fugitive 
 fucceflion ? Louis la Guerre is faid to have ex- 
 pired fuddenly, at the play-houfe, in 1 721, at the age 
 of fifty eight. This noble apartment, when illumin- 
 ated by its luftres and chandeliers, painted as it is, on 
 all fides, muft flrike a fpectator with great admiration ; 
 nor can its magnificence, at that time, be very callly 
 furpaffed. 
 
 SECT. 
 
UZ HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 jAs the following paper from the Taller 
 (No. 209, vol. IV.) comes, with great propriety, into 
 the Hiftory of Burgh ley, we do not fcruple to infert 
 it, in the words of its Author, as a pleafing addition 
 to the remarks contained in our laft. 
 
 66 A noble painter, who has an ambition to draw 
 an hiftory piece, has defired of me to give him a 
 fubject on which he may mow the utmoft force of his 
 art and genius. For this purpofe, I have fixed upon 
 that remarkable incident between Alexander the 
 Great and his phyfician. This prince, in the midft of 
 his conquefts in Perfia, was feized by a violent fever ; 
 and, according to the account we have of his vaft 
 mind, his thoughts were more employed about his re- 
 covery, as it regarded the war, than as it concerned 
 his own life. He profeifed that a flow method was 
 worfe than death to him, becaufe it was, what he more 
 dreaded, an interruption of his glory. He defired a 
 dangerous, fo it might be a fpeedy ? remedy. During 
 
 thh 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE* 113 
 
 this impatience of the king, it is well known, that 
 Darius had offered an immenfe fum to any who 
 fhould take away his life. Bet Philippus, the moll 
 cfteemed and mod knowing of his phyficians, promifed, 
 that, within three davs time, he would prepare a 
 medicine for him, which mould reltore him more 
 cxpeditioufly than could be imagined." 
 
 " Immediately after this engagement, Alexander 
 receives a letter from the molt confiderable of his 
 captains, with intelligence, that Darjus had bribed 
 Philippus to poifon him. Every cir.umftancc 
 imaginable favoured this fufpicion ; but this monarch, 
 who did nothing but in an extraordinary manner^ 
 concealed the letter, and, while the medicine was 
 prepinng, fpent all his thoughts upon his behaviour 
 in this important incident. From his long foliloquy, 
 he came to this refolution : «* Alexander mull 
 not lie here alive to be oppreffed by his enemy. I 
 will not believe my phyfician guilty ; or I will perifli 
 rather by his guilt, than my own diffidence." At 
 the appointed hour Philippus enters with the potion. 
 Gne cannot but form to one's-felf, on this occafion, 
 the encounter of their eyes, the refolution in thofe of 
 the patient, and the benevolence in the countenance of 
 the phyfician. The hero raifed himfelf in his bed, 
 and holding the letter in one hand, and the potion 
 in the other, drank the medicine. It will exercfe 
 my friend's pencil and brain to place this a<fhon in 
 its proper beauty. A prince obferving the features of 
 a fufpecled traitor, after having drank the poifon he 
 
 I offered 
 
114 [HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 offered him, is a circumftance To full of pailion, that it 
 will require the higheft ftrength of his imagination to 
 conceive it, much more to exprefs it. But, as paint- 
 ing is eloquence and poetry in mechanifm, I mail 
 raife his ideas, by reading with him the fineft draughts 
 cf the pamons concerned in this circumflance, from the 
 moll excellent poets and orators, 
 
 " The confidence which Alexander alTumes^ 
 from the air of Philippus's face, as he is reading 
 1ms accufation, and the generous difdain which is to 
 rife in the features of a falfly accufed man, are prin- 
 cipally to be regarded. In this particular he muft 
 heighten his thoughts, by reflecting, that he is not 
 drawing only an innocent man traduced, but a man 
 zealoufly affecled to his perfon and fafefy, full of 
 referttment, for being thought falfe. How fhafi we 
 contrive to exprefs the higheft admiration mingled with 
 difdain ? How mall we, in ftrokes of a pencil, fay 
 what Philippus did to his prince on this occafion ? 
 
 Sir, my life never depended on your's more than it does 
 now. Without knowing this fecrer, I prepared the po- 
 tion, which you have taken as what concerned Phi* 
 ltppus, no lefs than Alexander > and there is nothing 
 new in this adventure, but that it makes me frill 
 more admire the generality and confidence of my 
 Mailer Alexander took him by the hand, and 
 faid " Phi lip pus, I am confident you had rather 
 I had any other way to manifeft the faith I have in 
 you, than a cafe which fo nearly concerns me : 
 and in gratitude, I now allure you, I am anxious for 
 
 die 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. f|g 
 
 the'CiT-61 of your Medicine, more for your fake than 
 my own. My painter, continues the Tatler, is employ, 
 ed by a man of fenfe and wealth, to furnifh him a 
 galiery, and I lhall join, in the deiigning part, with 
 my friend. 
 
 " It is the great ufe of pictures to raife in 
 our minds, either agreeable ideas of our abfent 
 friends, or high images of eminent perfonages. But 
 the latter oefign is* methinks, carried on in a very 
 improper way " for, to fill a room full of battle pieces, 
 pompous hiicories of fieges, and a tali hero albnc in 
 a crowd of infignificant figures about him, is of no 
 confequence to private men. But, to place before our 
 eyes, great and illuflrious men in thofe parts and cir*. 
 cumftances of life, wherein their behaviour may have an 
 efFeft upon our minds, as being fuch as we partake 
 with them, merely as they Were men ; fuch as thefe^ 
 I fay, may be juft and ufeful ornaments of an elegant 
 apartment. In this co'leclion, therefore, that we are 
 making, we will not have the battles, but the fentiments 
 of Alexander. The affair we were juft now talking 
 of has circumftances of the higheft nature, and yet their 
 grandeur has little to do with his fortune. If by obferv* 
 ing fuch a piece, as that of his taking a bowl of poifon with 
 fo much magnanimity, a man, the next time, he has 
 a fit of the fpleen, is lefs froward to his friend, or 
 his fervants, thus far is fome improvement. I have 
 frequently thought, that, if we had many draughts 
 which were hiftorical, of certain paflions, and had the 
 true figure of the great men, we fee tranfported by 
 i 2 them, 
 
1 16 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 them, it would be of the mod fofid advantage ima- 
 ginable. To confider this mighty man, on one occafion, 
 adminifter to the wants of a poor foldier, benumbed 
 with cold, with the greateft humanity ; at another, 
 barbaroufly (tabbing a faithful officer : At one time, fo 
 gencroufly chafte and virtuous as to give his captive 
 Statira her liberty ; at another, burning a town 
 at the inltigation of Thais. Thefe fort of changes, 
 in the fame perfon, are what would be more beneficial 
 lelfons of morality, than the feveral revolutions in a 
 great man's fortune. There are but one or two in 
 an age, to whom the pompous incidents of his life 
 can be exemplary ; but I, or any man, may be as 
 lick, as good natured, as compaffionate, and as angry as 
 Alexander the Great. 
 
 " My purpofe in all this chat is, that fo excellent 
 a furniture may not, for the future, have fo romantick 
 a turn, but allude to incidents which come within 
 the fortunes of the ordinary race of men. I do not 
 know but it is by the force of this fenfelefs cuftom, 
 that people are drawn in poftures they would not, for 
 half they arc worth* be furprifed in. The unparalleled 
 fierccnefs of fome rural Squire?, drawn in red, or in 
 armour, who never dreamed to deftroy any thing 
 above a fox, is a common and ordinary offence of this 
 kind. But I fhall give an account of our whole gallery 
 on another occafion," 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 117 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 THE CHAPEL AT BURGH LET HOUSE. 
 
 It is probable, that the Chapel at 
 Eurghley Houfe, differs, in many refpe&s, from 
 that in moft noblemen's feats in the kingdom; as it 
 evidently does from the Chapel of Stow, which belongs 
 to the Marquis of Buckingham, and from that of 
 CaftJc Afhby to the Earl of Northampton. In 
 moft noble houfcs, it is either built on, or below, the 
 level of the ground rooms, and generally paved with 
 black and white marble ; whereas at Burghley, it is 
 found on a level with the firft range of rooms, above 
 Hairs, with a floor of very regularly laid deal. Though 
 the ftrangers and pilgrims, who refort to it, walk 
 upon nothing but the plain board, it is an offering 
 well worthy fo holy a place, as it is entirely without 
 fpot and blemifh, and prefents the moft beautiful fym- 
 metry to the eye ! Its dimenfions are likewife confi- 
 derably greater than thofe of moft chapels of the 
 nobility, being 33 by 21, even in the inner fpace. 
 
 1 3 The 
 
ng HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 The pi&ure formerly over the altar was a 
 reprefentation of Lazarus, conveyed by the angels 
 into Abraham's bofom ; but has been fince changed 
 for that of a conference, which Ze be dee's wife holds 
 with our Saviour, when Ihe petitions him in behalf of 
 her two fons, James and John, as it is drawn by 
 Paul Veronese. To fay how much this change is for 
 the better, as we never faw the firft, is altogether impoffible. 
 The prcfent is, however, a very fine piece, and highly 
 worthy the artift who drew it. It is faid, ** that this 
 Paul Veronese, alias Cacliaro, was born at 
 Verona; that he was the creator of a new manner, of 
 excellent fancy, and moll fruitful invention, for which 
 he was much admired by Guido. He excelled in 
 drapery and colouring, to which laft, he was, above all 
 things, attentive. He embellilhed his compofuions 
 with beautiful ftruclures, in a fine and mufterly ftyle, 
 in which he feems to have ftudied Pallapio." 
 
 The pi&ures in the chapel, befides this over the 
 ajtar, conjift of fix pieces in number, all very large,; 
 three of which are very methodically arranged on each 
 fide. Thefe are, firft Solomon's Idolatry, and the 
 Finding of Moses, by Carlo Lotti ; Mary 
 Ma9dale^ meeting J^sus, and the Adoration of the 
 Shepherds, by Liberi ; Saul and the Witch of 
 Endor, by ^anchi ; and Jephtha's Vow, by Jor- 
 dano Of the laft great artift we have already 
 treated, in a very particular manner, when we had 
 occafion to menti n his piclure of Seneca; and of 
 the reft we know none, who excited our admiration 
 fo much as the ingenious Carlo Lotti, in l^s 
 
 piece 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 119 
 
 piece of the Finding of Moses. In this, the artift 
 has thought proper, for reafons belt known to thofc 
 of his profeflion, to differ a little from the hiftory 
 of Moses, as it is cxpreffcd, in the fixth verfe of the 
 fecond chapter of Exodus : where we are informed, 
 that, when Pharaoh's daughter had opened the 
 ark, " She faw the child ; and, behold, the babe 
 wept." Notwithstanding this declaration of fcripture, 
 and the mourning of every new bora babe, the artift 
 has defcribed an uncommon degree of brightnefs in his 
 eyes, as he throws them with eagernefs towards his 
 preferver, the daughter of Pharaoh. If an infant 
 Moses, while weeping, be moft natural, he is cer- 
 tainly not fo graceful a figure, nor fo highly in 
 character, as the infant, which the painter here gives 
 us ; and who was one day to perform ftrange wonders 
 in the land of Ifrael ! The fad is plainly this, that he 
 is like no other child ; and the emotion in the coun- 
 tenance of the king's daughter, as fhe beholds him, 
 is fuch as may be imagined, in one of a benevolent 
 difpofition, who looks upon infancy at all, but, parti* 
 cularly, upon infancy fo expofed. It feems, indeed, 
 to affure us, of what we are already told, that fhe 
 had companion upon him, and faid, " this is one of the 
 Hebrews' children." As to the Witch of Endor, fhe 
 is, as Mr. Peck has obferved, one of the moft complete 
 hags that was ever feen ; fo that fhe appears a very- 
 proper perfon to have alarmed Saul, and to have 
 anfwered the painter's intention. 
 
 Thu$ 
 
120 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Thus much for the pictures of the chapel ; but, 
 when we caft our eyes oo the carved work, on all 
 fides, which, in fome places, gracefully depends, in 
 the form of fe'toons ; in that of olive branches, in 
 others, as around the altar ; or which feems to hover 
 in the fhape of gallefs turtles and doves, we are re- 
 minded of that exquifite art, which our old Tranfla- 
 tors of the Bible have been pleafed to exprefs by the 
 term of the cunning work of the firft tabernacle of 
 yore ! The pulpit and defk, which ftand near the altar, 
 on each fide, are compofed of the fineft mahogany ; 
 and fupport, with the other mahogany fea r s, in the. 
 inner chapel, that claim to reverence and antiquity, 
 to which the buildings of Burghlev are fo eminently 
 entitled I 
 
 As there are three excellently painted panes, in 
 one of the windows, in an apartment, at this noble 
 manfion, we might be alfo led to expect them in 
 the window of the chapel, on which they could not 
 fail to caft a more venerable and religious light ! It is 
 proper, however, to obferve, that, as it is not in the 
 Gothic ftyle, which flyle is moft fubje£t to painting 
 of this kind, it would certainly obftrucl the light, 
 which is requifite to be thrown on the pictures 
 there ; fo, that the one could not well fubfift with the 
 other. 
 
 This chapel, alone, with it's piftur.es, it's carved 
 work, and it's furniture, if properly valued, would 
 furnilh a fum every way fufficient to rear no con- 
 temptible 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 121 
 
 temptible manfion for the abode of an elegant country 
 gentleman; and we Ihould not be furprifed, if many 
 of our readers have feen an honeft rec~lor, or fome 
 other fuch perfon, endeavouring to puff off an eftate 
 and tenement, which never coft him halt fo much ! 
 Jt has been averted, with truth, that a fovereign, 
 who once held the balance of Europe, the enlightened 
 Elisabeth of England, often paid a viiit to 
 Burghley; and that, on thofe occafions, it was 
 her cullom, when flie attended divine fervice, to 
 place herfelf on the left lide of the chapel, neareft 
 the altar, which has ever lince been diftinguifhed 
 by the appellation of Queen Elisabeth's feat. In 
 conforming to this cultom, her Maj city's policy 
 might have promifed itfelf many ends. It might 
 have been done, in the firft place, as an inftance 
 of her great deference and refpedt to the Lord 
 Treafurer Bukleigh, perhaps, the firft man, and 
 miniiter, of his age ; and to prove, that, though 
 fhe was fovereign of the whole Kingdom, that every 
 man, according to the laws of her realm, was a fort 
 of fub-fovereign, in his own caftle, and over his 
 own domains. It is fomewhat fingular to confidcr 
 that, when that royal perfonage honoured Burghley 
 with her prefence, it was not near fo fumptuous 
 and magnificent as it has fince been. Neither 
 Verrio nor La Guerre, to whom it is fo much 
 obliged, was then in being ; nor were there then 
 many of thofe bufts, pictures, and other curiofities, 
 which were, afterwards, by the defendants of the 
 
 Lord 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Lord Treafurer, brought to it from Rome. Her 
 magnificent ftate bed, which is ftill fliown, is, per- 
 hap3, with fome very ancient china and furniture, 
 the only reliques of Burgh ley, in the days of 
 the great Queen Bess, to whom the nations of 
 Europe looked with veneration, and in whom the 
 laws an4 religion of Britain found a friend ! 
 
 5£CT. 
 
HISTPRY 0? BUJVQHLfV HOUSE. 123 
 
 SECT XV. 
 
 Painting upon glafs mak*s but a 
 very fmall part of tM decorations- of Burgh le y 
 Houfe ; and, except three of the lower panes, in a 
 window of one of the fVate rooms, I know nothing of 
 the kind, that is to' be found here, Tre reprefen- 
 tation on the middle pane is that of - an old biihop, 
 on his right that of an old cathedr.il ; and, on his 
 left, that of an old mifer, counting his money. 
 
 Speaking of painted glafs, the author of Anecdotes 
 of Painting in England obferves " It is a fecret, 
 which has never Ipeen loft, as I ftalj (how by a 
 regular feries of iis profeffcrs. The firft interruption 
 given to it, was by the Reformation, which baniflied 
 the art out of churches ; but it was, in fome m.eal'ure, 
 kept lap in. the efcutcheons of the nobility and 
 gentry, in the windows pf their, feats. Towards the 
 end of Queeo E^isasbtiCs rejgn, it was omitted 
 
 even 
 
124 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 even there, yet the practice did not entirely ceafe. 
 The chapel of our Lady, at Warwick, was ornamented 
 anew, by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 
 and his Countcfs ; and the cypher of the glafs painter's 
 name yet remains with the date of 1574; and, in 
 fome of the chapels at Oxford, the art again appears, 
 dating itfelf in 1622, by the hand of no contemptible 
 mailer. I could fupply even the gap of forty eight 
 years, by many dates on FlemHh glafs ; but nobody 
 ever fuppofed, that the fecret was loft fo early as the 
 reign of James the Firlt ; and that it has not periflied 
 fince, will be evident, from the following feries, 
 reaching to the prefent hour ;** which the author then 
 proceeds to prove at length, in the fecond volume of 
 his entertaining work. I do not believe it is exprefsly 
 known, by whom thefe three panes at Burghley 
 were fo adorned ; but, perhaps, by the artift at 
 Birmingham, who, a few years ago, fitted up a 
 window for Lord Lyttelton in the church of 
 fJagley* 
 
 In this apartment is a fine pitture, a half length, 
 of Madame Maiwtenon, copied from Le Brun ; 
 and another of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, 
 nineteen years of age, as he was drcfTed when he 
 went to war with the King of Denmark. The eyes 
 of this piece, and the whole countenance, which is 
 iharp and piercing, are chara&eriftic of all the fire 
 which Charles pofTefTed ; while the brafs buttons, 
 appendant to his coat, conform with the very parti- 
 cular account, which Voltaire has left us of his 
 ftylc of drefs. Here too arc the pictures of the 
 
 Duke 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY* HOUSE. I2 j 
 
 Duke of Alva, by V. Veronese, whofe perforations, 
 in the reign of Philip, and the Low Countries, arefo well 
 known ; Thomas Earl of Exeter, the fon of the Trea- 
 finer; and of Dorothy N evil, Countefs of Exeter, 
 Daughter of John Lord Latimer, by Cornelius 
 Jansen» Speaking of Cornelius Jansen, the author of 
 the Anecdotes obferves, that fo good a ftyle of colouring 
 was hardly formed here. (i His pictures are eafily 
 diftinguifhed by their clearnefs, neatnefs, and fmooth- 
 nefs. They are generally painted on board, and,, ex- 
 cept being a little ft iff, are often ftrongly marked 
 with a fair character of nature ; and remarkable for 
 a lively tranquillity in their countenances. His dra- 
 peries are feldom but black. His firit works in 
 England are dated about 1618. He dwelt in the 
 Black Friars, and had much bulinefs. One of his bell 
 works was the picture of a Lady Boyer, of the 
 family of Auger, called, for her exquifite beauty, the 
 Star of the Ea/i. 
 
 As we have here mentioned the picture of 
 Thomas Earl of Exeter, it will not be improper 
 to obferve, that he was the firfl nobleman, who was 
 advanced to the title of being Earl of the principal 
 city, while another had the dignity of being Earl of 
 the fame county, Charles Blunt being then Earl 
 of Devonfhire. Of the arms of the Earls of Exeter, 
 it is fomewhat remarkable, that they lhould be the 
 only ones, among all the nobility of thefe kingdoms, 
 whofe creft has two fupporters. The arms are Barry 
 
 of 
 
1 2 6 HISTORY OF BUROHLtDY HOUSE. 
 
 of ten, argent and azure. O/er all fix cfcutcheons, 
 3, 2, and i iable, cch charged with a lion rampant 
 on the field. The creft is a chapeau gules, turned 
 up ; ermine two garbs, which in heraldry fignifies 
 a (leaf of wheat or any other grain; or fupported by 
 two lions, that on the dexter ft.'e argent, on the 
 Snifter azure. The lions, which fupport the arms, -are 
 lions ermine. 
 
 The piclures ill the Billiard room, which we have 
 riot yet mentioned, a e all of the family in number 
 eighteen, in general half lengths, and in a good flate 
 of prefervation. This brings to my mind, that one 
 Vande&mijn, a Dutch artift, in the reign of George 
 the F.rll, rs faid to have received 500I. for repair- 
 ing the paintings at Burghley ; a tafk not left 
 difficult than dangerous. Arong other pieces, we 
 Mil not omit to mention the Ebony Cabinet, the 
 front and fides of which arc excellently painted by 
 Rubens ; and exhibits, at on? end, his three wives. 
 This artiit being one of the firft of his" profelfion, and 
 Of thofe at Burghley, he deferves to be more par- 
 t'cularly fet forth. As I prefer the life, which is 
 written of him, by the author of the Anecdotes, to 
 that in the Encyclopaedia, I fhall derive my principal 
 information from thence. 
 
 €i He is," fays that author, u perhaps, the fingle 
 artift who attracts the fuffrages of every rank. One may 
 juft'y call him the popular painter. His father wa3 
 Bo&or of Laws, and Senator of Antwerp, which he 
 quitted on the troubles of that country, and retired, 
 
 with 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 127 
 
 with his family, to Cologne, where, on the feaft of 
 St. Peter and Paul, his wife was delivered of 
 Rubens, in 1 577* Seldom as he practifed it, Rubens 
 was never greater than in landfcape ; the tumble of 
 his rocks and trees, the deep fhadows in his glades 
 and glooms, the watery fun -mine and dewy verdure, 
 fhow a variety of genius, which are not to he found in 
 the inimitable, but uniform, glow of Claude Lorrain. 
 He built a palace, and painted it within and without. 
 His Cabinet, or Rotunda, was enriched with antique 
 vafes, ftatues, medals, and pictures. The Duke of Buck- 
 ingham faw and coveted it. Le Blond negotiated 
 the Bargain, to which Rubens confented with regret. 
 The Favourite, who was bent on the purchafe, gave, 
 it is faid, fen thoufand pounds for what had not 
 coft above a thoufand. Among other things, that are 
 related of him, is told a very good tfory. A chymitt 
 tendering him a fhare of his laboratory, and his 
 hope of the Philofopher's flone, Rubens carried the 
 vifionary into his painting room, arid told him " his 
 offer was dated twenty years too late, for fo long it 
 is, faid he, fince I found the art of making gold with 
 my palette and pencils." 
 
 As foon as he returned to Antwerp, from 
 whence he had gone for a time, his various 
 talents were fo confpicuous, that he was pitched upon 
 to negotiate a treaty of peace between Spain and 
 England. Neither Charles nor Rubens overlooked 
 in the embaflador the talents of the painter. The 
 king engaged him to paint the cieling of the 
 
 banquetting 
 
X2S HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 banquetting houfe. Rubens received three thoufand 
 pounds for this work. This great painter was 
 knighted at White-hall, February 2 lit, 1630, and the 
 king gave him an addition to his arms, on a dexter 
 canon gules, a lion paflant or. We have in England 
 feveral capital works of Rubens. Vxlliers, Duke 
 of Buckingham, had thirteen, and Sir Peter Lely 
 five, The Dutchefs of Marlborough offered any 
 price for his pictures. They are the firft ornaments 
 of Blenheim, but have fuffered by neglect. At Wilton 
 are two, one the AlTumption of the Virgin, pointed 
 for the Earl of Arundel, while Rubens was in 
 England, and with which he was fo pleafed himfelf, 
 that he afterwards made a large picture from it, for a 
 convent at Antwerp. At Houghton is that mafterly 
 piece, Mary Magdalen, anointing the feet of 
 Christ; and a large cartoon of Meleager and 
 Atalanta. Though twenty authors have written of 
 this artift, this is all, that can conveniently come within 
 the fcope of our obfervations. He died of the gout 
 in his own country, in 1640. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE, 129 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES AND CURIOSITIES OF BURGHLEf 
 HOUSE, 
 
 ^^MONG the curiofities of Burgh.- 
 ley, there is none more pleafing than Christ's 
 . laft Supper with his Apoftles, in alto relievo, as it 
 is ingenioufly performed by the hand of that great 
 artift Grimlin Gibbons. The fculptor feems, in 
 this fine piece of carved work, to allude ta that 
 pafTage of the gofpel, in which our Saviour declares, 
 that one of them fhall betray him 5 and in which 
 they began every one of them to fay unto him, Lord, 
 is it I ? 
 
 " There is no inflance," fays Lord Or ford, 
 * 4 of a man before Gibbons, who gave to wood the 
 
 k loofe 
 
I JO JHSTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 loofe and airy lightnefs of flowers, and chained together 
 the various productions of the elements with a free 
 diforder natural to each fpecies. His art penetrated 
 all materials, for he equally excelled in marble, 
 metal or wood. The bafe of the flatue of Charles 
 the Firlt, at Charing Crofs, was his work ; and, at 
 Burghley," continues he, M is a noble profufion of 
 his carving in picture frames, chimney-pieces, and 
 door cafes ; and the laft Supper, in alto relievo, 
 finely executed." After fuch an authority as Lord 
 Or fo rd's it will be needlefs to fay more of it, only 
 that it is now removed from the Jewel Clofet, where 
 it formerly hung, to a fituation that becomes it better. 
 
 In an apartment, on the fouth fide of the houfe, 
 among other curiofities, the eye is ftruck with a very 
 pleafing antique, which was found in Adrian's Villa, 
 near Rome, in 1630. It is the marble reprefentation 
 of a C up id, carcfling a dead pigeon or dove, ftanding 
 a tip-toe on a fquare pedeftal, finely carved, with his 
 pinions and moulders retting againft a pillar. Below 
 the cornice of the third divifion of the pedeftal, are 
 the following words in latin, which are now nearly 
 obliterated by time, and of which the cognofcenti may 
 make what fenfe they can. u D. M. Quintiae Satur- 
 ninse G. Valeriis terminals Coniu c fuse cariflima?. 
 F F." A letter feems to have been defaced in the 
 word immediately following terminalis, which we con- 
 ceive, it will not be very eafy to fupply. 
 
 In the apartment, next to the large one called 
 Heaven, near the entrance of each door, our admira* 
 
 tioxi 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. ,3, 
 
 tion is called forth, by two beautiful large flabs, 
 compofed of the lava, highly polifhed, which flowed 
 from an eruption of Mount Vefuvius. On each of 
 thefe (land two vaufes, of Raphael's ware; which 
 are ornamented about the mouth and handles with 
 fnakes of the fame materials. They are about two 
 feet and a half in height ; and exhibit about their 
 bafe, which is circular, fome words in the modern 
 Italian. Immediately under the flabs, are to be feen 
 two farcophagus's, or rather urns, of a very unufual 
 con ft ruction. They are of a quadrangular fhape, curi- 
 oufly carved, about a foot each way; and, though 
 they differ a little in iize, are fo heavy, that they 
 would furnifh Hercules with a new labour to lift 
 them. One of them was found with the afhes of 
 the dead depofited in it; and, though its infeription 
 is defaced, its cover may be put on or off with little 
 trouble. The other exhibits itfelf altogether in one 
 immoveable mafs, and, on its front, thefe words, in 
 latin, «' OfTa Metelli Aretis f with fome others, which 
 we have forgot, importing that he was Quajftor, at 
 fuch a portion of time: but, whether all a man's bones, 
 though reduced to the fineft afhes, can be contained in 
 an urn of fo fmall a fize, where the thicknefs of the 
 flone contracts its internal extenlion each way, will 
 be a queftion for none but an antiquarian to folve. 
 
 Another antique, deferving of fome attention, is s 
 vaufe of alabafter pecorilla, which was found in a 
 vineyard, near the Porta Salerno, at Rome. It is 
 little more than a foot in height; and, like a true 
 
 & 2 antique^ 
 
I3 2 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 antique, appears to have had a flaw, which has been 
 fince very carefully repaired. It is, probably, of that 
 kind called Lygdinum marmor, by the ancients ; but, 
 from its great antiquity, appears to have left all its 
 tranfparency and brightnefs. If we recollect right, it 
 is not unlike that ftone which compofes the fubltance 
 of the two quadrangular urns; which, from the fimi- 
 larity of weight, fimilarity of age, and fimilarity of 
 vefiel, feems highly probable. Alabafter in itfelf is 
 a kind of foft marble. It ferments with acids, and 
 readily calcines in the fire. 
 
 Over a beautiful fcaglioli mantle-piece, in another 
 apartment, is placed the head of Medusa, which is 
 wrought in pure marble, in a manner at once to fafci- 
 nate and aftonifh ! It is a copy by Noli kens, from 
 a fine antique, in the Rondonini palace, at Rome, 
 1764. On the right of this flands the figure of 
 Apollo, which is a copy by Giuseppe Claus, 
 from the beautiful ilatue, at the Grand Duke's palace, 
 on the Trinitadi Mount, at Rome ; and on the left, 
 that of the Venus Bel Fresse, which is alfo a 
 copy by the fame hand, in exaclly the fame flyle. 
 The art of man feems incapable of accomplishing any 
 thing more exquifite in their kind than thefe ilatues ; 
 and, as if the hard marble communicated a tendernefs 
 to the heart of the beholders, which it does, in no 
 manner, pofTefs itfelf. They are about three feet high; 
 and the chemife, or loofe mantle, which falls negli- 
 gently down the left fide of thz Venus, though 
 
 folid 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 133 
 
 folid marble, appears to prefent all the natural foftnefs, 
 as well as beautiful tranfparency, of the finefl lawn. 
 
 On one pedeftal of mahogany, finely carved, in 
 another apartment, is reprefented an infant Hercules, 
 in bronze, made by Algardi, Wrangling the makes, 
 which was procured from the famous Dr. Mead's 
 collection in 1755 ; and on another of the fame wood, 
 Lao coo n and his two fons, encompaffed by the makes, 
 as defcribed in Virgil's fecond JEncid. 
 
 tc X II i agmine certo 
 Laocoonta petunt : et primum parva duorum 
 Corpora natorum ferpens amplexus uterq ; 
 Implicat, et miferos morfu depafcitur artus. 
 Poft, ipfum auxilio fubeuntem ac tela ferentem 
 Corripiunt, fpirifq ; ligant ingentibus : et jam 
 Bis medium amplexi, bis collo fquamea circum 
 Terga dati, fuperant capite et cervicibus altis. 
 Ille fimul manibus tendit diVellere nodos^ 
 Perfufus fanie vittas atroq ; veneno ; 
 Clamores fimul horrendos ad fidera tollit." 
 
 Though this reprefentation of Laocoon and his 
 fons appears taken from the poet's defcription, if the 
 opinion of one of his commentators be juft, Virgil 
 has, on the contrary, derived it from an ancient flatue, 
 extant in his days. 
 
 We will mention no other curiofities, for the 
 prefent, than the poet's own Tomb, at Pofilipo, which 
 is very ingenioufly executed, by Dr. Du-Bourg, with 
 
 k 3 cork, 
 
134 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 cork, adorned with mofs. It is placed upon a rich 
 eabinet, under a glafs cafe ; and is the exacl: refem- 
 tlance of that, which moft travellers and painters have 
 appropriated to the memory of that great man. It is 
 about a foot and a half high, and really feems, as it 
 is* the venerable monument of near tWQ thoufand 
 years. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XVIL 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF BURGH LET* 
 
 .EqUALLY various and pleafing are 
 the other curiofities, which are to be fcen in this 
 noble and truly magnificent mufeum. Of this kind 
 we efteem the little antique of a boy, bearing a lamb, 
 about a foot and a half high ; which is faid to have 
 been found in the ruins of Herculaneum, near to the 
 foot of Mount Vefuvius, in 1760. It appears, from 
 the cement, about the waift and ancles, to have been 
 broke in thofe parts It's head reclines to the right; 
 and, though he appears to ufe effort, it is merely an 
 effort, which gracefully difplay* all parts of hi3 perfon. 
 When a gladiator, or full grown ftrong man, is ftripped 
 for the combat, his mufcles immediately appear, in 
 every athletic limb, to the beholders, with a degree of 
 terror ; whereas, the greateH exertions of a young child 
 
 k 4 are 
 
136 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 attended with no fuch effecls, and feldom diforder the 
 little round rolls, and plump protuberances of his flefh. 
 His efforts and ardor may, indeed, provoke a fmile ; 
 but feldom any other fenfation ; and fuch, we may 
 fay, we- feel, in the examination of this little piece 
 of virtu. The nature and truth of the fculpture, 
 therefore, as well as its great antiquity, deferve no 
 fmall attention. No ftatues were dug out of the ruins 
 of Herculaneum before the year 171 1, when the Prince 
 of Elbeuf, going to build over this place, in digging 
 for a well, difcovered fome reliques of ancient art. 
 In a farther profecution of the work, by the King of 
 the two Sicilies, in the year 1738, the. Theatre was 
 difcovered 5 fince which time, innumerable curious bufts, 
 ftatues, and all fort of houfehold utenfiis, have been 
 found. 
 
 Faithful and juft is the copy, which we find 
 taken, at Burgh ley, in plaifter of Paris, of the 
 Portland Vafe, as it is depicted in a very excellent 
 plate, in one of the volumes of Dr. Darwin's Loves 
 of the Plants. The Biographia Britannica obferves of 
 the vafe itfelf, that it is a celebrated funeral vafe, 
 which was long in pofTeffion of the Barberini family ; 
 but which was lately purchafed for 1000 guineas, by 
 the Duke of Portland, from whom it derived it's 
 name. It's height is about ten inches, and it's diameter, 
 where broadeft, fix. There are a variety of figures 
 upon it, of moft exquifite workmanship, in bas relief 
 of white opaque glafs, raifed on a ground of deep 
 blue glafs, which appears black, except when held 
 againft the light. It feems to have been the 
 
 work 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 137 
 
 work of many years, and there are antiquarians, 
 who date its production feveral centuries before the 
 chriftian sera ; fince, as has been laid, fculpture wai 
 declining in excellence, in the tirce of Alexander 
 the Great. 
 
 Reflecting the purpofe of this vafe, and what the 
 figures are meant to reprefent, there have been a variety 
 of conjectures, which it is not our bufinefs to enu- 
 merate. We think, with Dr. Darwin, that it was 
 not made for the afhes of any particular perfon 
 deceafed ; and, therefore, that the fubject of it's em- 
 bcllifhment is not a private hiflory, but of a general 
 nature. But we are not Aire, fay the authors, that he 
 is right in conjecturing it to reprefent a part of the 
 Eleufinian myfteries, becaufe that conjecture depends on 
 Warburton's explanation of the fixth book of the 
 iEneid, which does not now command that refpeft 
 which it did, when it was firft propofed. The di- 
 meniions of the copy appear equal to thofe of it's 
 original ; and it's expenfe mull, of courfe, bear fome 
 fort of equal proportion. The Doctor's Loves of the 
 Plants poffefs more merit, for the learned account which 
 they exhibit of this vafe, and fome other matters of 
 fcience, than for even their ftrains of harmonious 
 poetry. 
 
 The Porcelain Tower, at Nankin, in China, 
 as it is fet off, in our mufeum, may next claim 
 attention. This architecture in mother of pearl, 
 ten ftories high, is extremely curious j and difcovers as 
 
 refined 
 
rj& HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 reined a degree of art, as Solomon's Temple, on 
 Mount Moriah, which was raifed in clay and (tone. 
 The pearl is croiTed, at particular diftances, by little 
 minute lines of gold, to referable brick ; and every 
 feparate divifion has a balluflrade round it of the fined 
 and fmalleft carved pearl. It is, however, too tiny 
 and delicate to be inhabited by any being of fuperior 
 bulk to Queen Mae, or the King of the Faiiies, with 
 sl few of his fairy train. On either fide this, in the 
 fame apartmtnt,. are hung up two fine pieces of old 
 Roman ruins, in mofaic work ; in which the art itfelf, 
 with the g catcft propriety, appears adapted to the 
 tfubjecl. Our readers of lefs experience than the reft 
 may underftand this, when they are told, that mofaic 
 work is an ingenious aiTemblage of little pieces of 
 glafs r marble, fhells and precious (tones, of various 
 colours, cemented on a ground of llucco ; and which, 
 in their form and natural fhades, bear the moft itriking 
 refemblance to the painter's beft efforts. 
 
 In the large room called Heaven, two noble half 
 buib* in the fineft white marble, of John, Earl of 
 Exeter, and his Countefs Anne, make their appear- 
 ance^ on two elegant lofty pedeftals of mahogany. 
 They are the fame to whom the fuperb monument is 
 creeled in the church of St. Martin's, at Stamford, 
 sad executed by Peter Mo not, of Befancon, in his 
 ufual fublime talte. In the next apartment is a 
 ftaiking, antique of the Emprefs Livia, the wife, we 
 prefurn^v of Augustus Ctesar, from Dr. Mead's 
 collection, in 1755. ^ * s a figure about two feet high, 
 
 on 
 
HISTORY OF EURGHLEY HOUSE. 139 
 
 on a fmall pedeftal of black marble. As ornaments 
 to two different windows, there are placed in them 
 the reprefentations of two children, on down beds, of 
 pure marble, in different poftures. One is fculptured 
 faft afleep, with his little cheek apparently finking 
 into it : and the other as jufl nwake from flumber. 
 Wax, or even clay, of the mod duclile and plaiiic 
 kind, could not obey the hand in a more natural and 
 pleafing manner. They are both by the fame artiit, 
 and bear the name of Peter Mo not, of Befancon. 
 In another quarter, on a round pedeftal, are ieen 
 two naked children, in marble , who, with great, but 
 graceful, exertion, bear along, on their moulders, a 
 large marble fifli. 'Under this, there is, in all pro- 
 bability, fome myllic allufion, which none but an 
 antiquarian can folve. One of them has had a fmall 
 flaw ; and what we obferved, in regard to the little 
 figure, dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum, whofe 
 exertion was without a vifible extenfion of the fibres 
 and mufcles, may, veiy fairly, be applied to thefe. 
 There are, befldes, at Burchlfy, two elegant little 
 models of buildings: one of St. Clement's Church, 
 in the Strand, in common wood ; and the other of the 
 Temple at Jerufalem, very curioufly carved, and 
 inlaid with mother of pearl. 
 
 In an elegant clofet, at one end of the hcufe, 
 extending feveral feet each -way, in a frame of fine 
 ebony, we were furprized with a curiofity of another 
 kind, of which we now ought to bear record : it 
 fpcaks, how r ever, for itfelf in the following terms : 
 
 To 
 
I4<* HISTORY OF BURGIILEY HOUSE. 
 
 4C To the mojl facred and ferene Princefs 
 Anne, Queen of Great Britain, France and 
 Ireland^ this piece of pemnanfhip, containing all 
 the nfual hands, praftifed in your Majefly*s 
 Dominions, is mojl humbly dedicated and pre- 
 fented, by your Majefifs mojl dutiful and loyal 
 fubjeft, John Langton." 
 
 Surrounded as it is, by fcvcral fine pictures, and 
 a profufion of old china, the reader may form fome 
 idea of it's merit, when we allure him, that it lofes 
 nothing, from being placed fo exactly in the glaring 
 neighbourhood of the other arts. If, in the ancient 
 times, Moses, Cadmus, or who you pleafe, was the 
 inventer of letters, Mr. Lang ton has been furely, in 
 modern, their improver, Againft thofe, however, who 
 attribute them to Moses, the learned Vossius has 
 been faid to propofe the following fhrewd queftion : 
 M If the ufe of letters or the art of writing had 
 not been known before the decalogue was delivered to 
 Moses, which way could the Ifraelites have read the 
 law, as they were obliged to do, by divine com- 
 mand i» 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. i± t 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 Though one of the principal pieces, 
 of fculpture of Burghley Houfe bears no allulioa 
 to the Itory of Arion, as it is glanced at in Vir- 
 gil's eighth Eclogue, " inter Delphinas Arion/* 
 it is faid to have been taken from Pliny; and the 
 icarcenefs of that author alone prevents us from now 
 turning to the place. It is the charming effigy of & 
 boy, juft dead, in folld marble, fupported by a dol- 
 phin ; both of them again being upheld by a trian- 
 gular marble pedeftal, adorned at each end, with a 
 ram's head, in the ionic order, moll exquifitely carved ! 
 By its beautiful tranfparency, it cannot yet be of any 
 great age ; though, from the great labour and Ikill it 
 exhibits, it deferves a duration litt.'e fhort of fome of 
 the precious reliques of Herculaneum. It is placed 
 upon the top of the large landing place, in the apart- 
 ment called Hell, from whence proceeds the double 
 flair-cafe to the old gothic hall below; a fituarion of 
 
 all 
 
142 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 all others the moll eminently appropriated to fuch a 
 piece of fculpture. 
 
 When the reader has imagined all the graceful 
 contours, curves, and outlines, which even Raphael 
 could depift with his pencil, he may receive fomc 
 faint idea of what the fculptor of this piece has achieved 
 with his chifel ; hut, as this will ftill fall fhort of 
 it's merit, he mult reprefent to himfelf the hard marble 
 fbftening into ductile wax, and taking all the fair and 
 plaftie impreffions of infant flefh. It is difficult to 
 know whether to praife moft, the liftlefs grace with 
 which the depending arms, neck, and whole body of 
 the boy are wrought, or the voluminous folds, with 
 which this wondrous dolphin bears his burden ! Thus 
 feeming to repofe at eafe, the head or rather neck of 
 the dolphin fcrms a prop for the neck of the boy ; 
 and, while his body is borne up by that of the fifh, 
 in a double fold, his legs, croffing each other, at the 
 ancles, gracefully depend in the hollow jufl above its tail. 
 
 Hie labor, hoc opus eft. 
 
 Docs the dolphin bend, fo does the corpfe bend too ; 
 and that with fo much natural grace, that we are 
 aftonillied a defign like this, with fuch materials, fhould 
 be attended with fuch wonderful execution ! 
 
 Conformable to the defcription of the ancients, 
 who, according to Ru^us, fpeaking of the .dolphin, 
 obferves, M Fallo incurvo ccrpore pinxere," the fculptor 
 
 has 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. ^ 
 
 has been pleafed to reprcfent his dolphin alfo, thaugli 
 a modern piece, in the fame manner. This bending 
 of the body, however, he thinks, u nifi forte fie ap- 
 paret propter impetum ac veloeitatem mot us cum eriam- 
 pit e marl : vere enim dicitur a Plinio, !. 9. 8. vefc- 
 ciffimum omnium animalium non folum marinonum, 
 ocyor volucri, ocyor telo ; tanta vi exilit, et pleruarwj; 
 vela navium tranfvolet." The poem of " The Wan- 
 derer" contains .the following pleafing lines on this 
 fubjed: 
 
 Near Neptune's Temple, Neptune's now no mora, 
 Whofe Statue plants a tiident on the fhore,, 
 In fportive rings the generous dolphins wind. 
 And eye and think the Image human kind. 
 Bear, pleafant friendlhip! &c 
 
 agreeable to the aflertion of the learned Commentator, 
 who adds, Ddphini autem dicuntur et mufica et 
 amore hominuni capi. 
 
 In an apartment near the Jewel Clofet is to be 
 feen tapeftry, in three large pieces, which, though near 
 a hundred years of age, is Hill in an uncommon itatc 
 of prefervation. They extend about fifteen feet each 
 way ; and from the third foot from the ground, qmtc 
 up to the gilt cornice at the top of the room 3 being 
 terminated on each of the four fides, by a moil noble 
 border of carved work, out of the folid oak of the 
 wainfeor, executed by a perfon of Stamford, in a ityle 
 very little inferior to the ingenious Gibbons himfelf. 
 The fubjeft of one :«s the atmofphere or air 3 in whkh 
 
 h 
 
144 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 is reprefented a variety of the feathered race. JEolv$ 9 
 or the God of the Winds, here makes his appearance ; 
 over againft whcm may be fecn two GoddelTes of the 
 Sky, one of which feems to hold out the coat of arms 
 of the Earl of Fxeter, inferibed E. E< At the bot- 
 tom of the tapeftry, juft within the carved work* wc 
 perufed the following lines : 
 
 AER. 
 
 Te natura parens varios formavit in ufus 
 Fervida tu gelido recreas praecordia flatu ; 
 Tu plantas vegetas fegetefq j herbamq j virentem, 
 Laetae in te fpatiantur aves gravidafq; proceilis, 
 Nubef ventus agit vacuo difYufus aprico, 
 Liber ab /Eoi'io quoties dimittitur antro* 
 
 F. H. 
 
 To which the author has given the following 
 tranflation in verfe, which he does not intend as quite 
 literal : 
 
 Nature, oh Air, obedient to thy (kill, 
 
 Frarrfd thee the fubjeft of its various will. 
 
 When love-fick hearts are parched with keen defire, 
 
 Thy frefiVning gales oft mitigate the fire, 
 
 The powers of life thou freely doft convey, 
 
 The fhrubs, the plants, all waving, own thy fway, 
 
 The birds too joyous feel thy tender care, 
 
 And tune their pipes, and fpread their plumes in air j 
 
 But, mould the clouds afiume a deeper form, 
 
 Roll round the fun, or tumble into Jlorm ; 
 
 See foft ./Eolian gales of aether play, 
 
 And heaven and nature too again are gay ! 
 
 In 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, i^j 
 
 In another piece is defcribed the effects of Fire ? 
 with figures equally emblematical of that element. 
 Old Vulcan, who is here admirably pourtrayed, both 
 in gefture and countenance, is to be feen at his anvil 3 
 with a variety of tools, which belong to his profeuion a 
 as fmith-general of the gods. Helmets, cuiraffes, ar« 
 mour, and cannon, make their appearance ; while 
 Jupiter, with his tremendous eagle at his feet, and, 
 feated by the fide of Juno, holds forth the fame coat 
 of arms. At the bottom of this we are prefented with 
 the following lines : 
 
 IGNIS. 
 
 Quanto aeftu incendis fylvas urbefq j domofq % 
 Quae fubverfa jacent, propriis miferanda ruin js, 
 Inque vkem refoves quam grato membra calore, 
 Decoquis atque C'bos flammis fubigifq \ metalla, 
 Et prodes et obes nondum conftare videmr 
 Utilior fervus, dominulhe feroeior e<5te$-« 
 
 % K. 
 
 In the third, which defefibes the Watery Element, 
 Neptune is to be feen with his trident, furrounded 
 by fea-horfes, and attended by Tritons. Wild fcene* 
 ry, projecting rocks, and marine monfters, farther 
 exprefs and pourtray the fubjecl. On the right of 
 her watery fpoufe is feen the Queen of the Deep ? 
 who holds forth the fame device, E. E. and, at the 
 bottom, the following infeription : 
 
 AQUA, 
 
^6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 AQUA. 
 
 Spumeus aequoris regnans Neptunus in unci's, 
 Componit fceptro flu&us infignis opaco. 
 Plurimis pone natant firen nymphaeq 5 marinse, 
 Et pifces tremula per ftagna iiquentia cauda, 
 Horrida caerulea nec non et monftra profunda, 
 Atq 5 rates varia comitantur merce referta?. 
 
 F. H. 
 
 Thefe, I apprehend, are the pieces which, according 
 to Mr. Peck, were defigned by Franciscus Alba- 
 nus. There being yet four painted rooms undifcufted, 
 it will be now proper to fpeak of each. 
 
 The painter's fancy feems to bear fo much fvvay 
 in their embellifhment, that k is not, I am afraid, very 
 eafy to follow him. The chief defign, however, in 
 the room next the large one called Heaven, appears to 
 be the celebration of the marriage between Jupiter 
 and Juno, with the nuptial feait : in the fecond, the 
 marriage of Cupid and Psyche, with a celeflial 
 concert on the occafion : in the third, Honour appears 
 to be introducing Virtue to Jupiter, who prefents 
 her to Juno ; meaning, perhaps, that, having married 
 Juno, he had, to ufe the vulgar phrafe, made her an 
 honeft woman. It is on this cieling, that Mercury 
 holds out a roll with thefe words, in golden letters, 
 " Sic virtus evehit ardens honor pulcherrima merces 
 ipfe fibi." 
 
 In the room next the Jewel Clofet is exhibited 
 on the cieling, as it would feem, a confummation of 
 
 the 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. 147 
 
 the marriage between Jupiter and Juno. Befldes 
 the latin fen tence already quoted on the roll of Mer- 
 cury, there are the two following, in two different 
 apartments, which may, perhaps, enable an ingenious 
 reader at leaft, to guefs the fubjeft. " Fit totum fa- 
 bula caelum ; fterilem fperando nutrit amorem." There 
 are feveral others in different parts of the Houfe, which, 
 having loft, we arc altogether obliged to omit; but, 
 as it lies continually open to the infpe&ion of the 
 curious, it will be in the power of an ingenious fpec- 
 tator to fupply the defects of the prefent Seftion* 
 
 % 2 
 
 1ECT, 
 
14$ HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 
 ]M[r. Peck, having made frequent 
 miftakes, by imputing particular pieces at Burghley 
 to wrong artifts, as a picture of the Nativity to Rubens, 
 which was done by Liberi, a Venetian, and another 
 to Titian, which was performed by Zanchi, a 
 Venetian, the reader cannot always, in thefe refpecls, 
 rely upon his authority. Though he errs, in the fame 
 manner, when he fpeaks of the famous piece of the 
 MefTiah, in the Jewel Clofet, which he falfely attri- 
 butes to Giovanni Baptista, inficad of the true 
 artift Carlo Dolci, his remarks upon it are rather 
 fuperior to his ufual ftyle of criticifm. " To confider, 
 he obferves, the foftnefs of the colouring, the fweetnefs 
 of the features, and the artful mixture of the tinfture* 
 in the glory, you would fay it was inimitable. For, 
 what is very remarkable in this piece, the rays are 
 painted upon gold, and yet the brightnefs thereof is 
 fo artfully intermixed with the hair, that the very gold 
 
 itfelf 
 
HISTORY OF BUROHLEY HOUSE. 149 
 
 itfelf 13 almoft imperceptible. Though the hair of the 
 Mefliah is generally depicted of a chefnut, yet, like 
 the generality of the Jewilh Nation, it was, moft pro- 
 bably, of a dark and black colour. As the following 
 lines from Mr. Peck exhibit a very high idea of 
 this piece, we mail quote them rather for the fine 
 panegyric, than the lofty poetry that they contain, 
 
 w ChrirVs beauteous looks the artift doth reftore, 
 
 u So lovely we could even the paint adore; 
 
 " For lo ! the Saviour of the World with eyes 
 
 " Which up to his own heaven devoutly rife, 
 
 " Blefling from thence the facred myfteries, 
 
 *' Holds forth the hallowed bread, while, on his hand, 
 
 " Reflected beams of light imprinted ftand : 
 
 " Beneath a golden plate the piece difplays, 
 
 4t Which from a proper point emits thofe rays.** 
 
 As we have before faid much of it, it is now time 
 to leave it to its own merit, which will ever fpeak in 
 terms of the higheft eloquence. 
 
 The reprefentation of a marble Cupid, carefling * 
 dead pigeon or dove, which was before mentioned, 
 and faid to have been found in Adrian's Villa, near 
 Rome, may feem worthy of a more minute difcuffioiu 
 If it be emblematical of any thing, as it undoubtedly 
 is, it muft Hand as an emblem, over a fepulchre, of 
 affection deploring the lofs of a friend or near relation ; 
 and moft probably betokens the concern of a hulband 
 over a wife, or a parent over a child. This feems 
 evident, from the pinions of the little marble deity 
 
 h 3 being 
 
, 5 0 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 feeing confined to the pillar ; his head, in a difconfo- 
 late fond manner, being rerrefented hanging down, as 
 if cardfing the pigeon, which appears dead ; and laft, 
 from the words, at the bottom of the pedeftal, termi- 
 nalis fuae carifiimae. 
 
 In the number of the pictures at Bur ch ley, 
 we have not yet, I believe, taken notice of the piece 
 by Bass a no, which hangs over the door, in Queen 
 Elisabeth's chamber; and reprefents our Saviour 
 praying in the garden, while his difciples are allcep. 
 The contrail, between the fiiver light and the made, 
 forms the principal beauty of this piece ; for which 
 it has been greatly admired by all good judges. The 
 fine picture of the Shepherd's Offerings is by Apol- 
 lonius Bassanensis, whofe name is inferibed upon 
 one of the pillars of the painting. Man/ pieces now 
 called originals, and faid to be the production of his 
 pencil, are only copies by fome of his pupils, to whom 
 he frequently gave the "finilhing of his pictures. In a 
 room on the fouth fide of the houfe, we are prefented 
 with a fine picture, full length, of one of the Gre- 
 oories, Popes of Rome, by Andrea Sacchi, in his 
 facerdotal robes, and with his crown ; though, among 
 fo many of them who reigned, it is hard to pronounce 
 which. Here too we mult not omit a fweet picture, 
 full length, fitting down, of a very charming woman, 
 the Marchionefs Towns end, who mult command the 
 attention of the moil carelefs fpectator. 
 
 The 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, |«, 
 
 The miniatures at Burchley being too numer- 
 eus, to be minutely detailed, we fhall djfinjis , this 
 article with a fhort account of the artilts who drew 
 them. 
 
 As Mr. Peck informs us, that many of them are 
 from the hand of Cooper, it is proper to obferve, 
 that there were two artifts by that name, who were 
 brothers, though Samuel, the youngeft, is faid to 
 have been moil eminent. He was born in 1609, and 
 intruded with his brother Alexander, by their 
 uncle Hoskins. The variety of tints, that he in* 
 troduced, the clearnefs of his carnations, and loofe 
 management of hair, exceed his uncle, though in the 
 laft Hoskins had great merit too. The portrait of 
 one Swincfield was that which recommended him 
 to the court of France, where he painted fevera! 
 pieces larger than his ufual lize, and for which his 
 widow received a penfion during her life. He lived 
 long in France and Holland, and, dying in London, 
 May 5, 1672, at the age of 63, was buried in Pancras 
 church, where is a monument for him. The infcrip- 
 tion is in Graham, who adds, that he had great fldll 
 in mufic, and played well on the lute. His works 
 are too many to be enumerated ; and, feven or eight 
 of his pieces are in Queen Caroline's clofet, at 
 Kenfmgton. 
 
 As to Alexander Cooper we know little, 
 but that he painted the ftory of Actjeon and Diana, 
 at Burgh ley ; and, going abroad, refided fometime at 
 l 4 Amfterdam 
 
1J2 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Amilerdam, and at laft entered into the fervice of 
 Queen Christina. Mrs. Anne Carlisle, a pain- 
 trefs of many miniatures, was admired for her copies 
 from Italian matters. Graham fays, fhc was in fuch 
 favour with King Charles, that he preferred her 
 and Vandyck with as much ultramarine at one time, 
 as coft him above five hundred pounds If her lhare 
 was near equal, I mould fuppofe fhe painted in oil. 
 It would be a very long time before the worth of 
 200I. in ultramarine could be employed in miniatures. 
 Vertue mentions her teaching a lady to paint, whofe 
 picture lire drew ftanding behind her own ; nerfelf was 
 fitting down, with a book of drawings in her lap 5 
 and he adds, that many pieces painted by her were 
 In the pofTeffion of the widow Lady Cotterel, 
 Mrs. Carlisle died about 1680. 
 
 On the fubjec"l of miniatures it is not unentertain* 
 jng to relate an anecdote of the unfortunate Vander- 
 dor t, who was keeper of his cabinet to Charles 
 the Firft. Gibson, a dwarf, fometime before, having 
 painted a very pleafing miniature of the parable of the 
 loft fheep, which came into the king's hands, his 
 Majefty recommended it to his care, with all that 
 caution which a good production, by fo extraordinary 
 a perfon, would naturally excite. The king, however, 
 at laft, having occafion to call for it, and- Vander- 
 port, in his great care to preferve it, as it fome- 
 times happens, in cafes of this kind, not being able 
 to find it, immediately hung himfelf in defpair. What 
 r^ift have been this poor man's gratitude to, or dread 
 
 i of 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 1 53 
 
 of, his fovereign ! And how great the value of the 
 pifture ! After his death, however, his executors found, 
 and reftored it. 
 
 Of miniatures, one of the mod minute was painted 
 by Anne Smitter, the mother of Lucas de Heere, 
 ;md which, though it reprefented a landfcipe with a. 
 windmill, millers, a cart, horfe, and paflengers, half a 
 grain of corn would cover the whole compofition. At 
 Burghley alfo is the ftory in miniature of Venus 
 and Adonis, painted by Peter. Oliver, dated 1631. 
 
 Among the diminutive pieces of art, it is faid, 
 that the Earl of Exeter poffeiTes a fardonyx, on 
 which is cut the images of Henry the Eighth and 
 his Children ; alfo a precious (lone or two engraved 
 by Vale Rio Belli, profiles in Cameo of Queen 
 Elisabeth. 
 
 In the hiftory of Burghley it is proper to 
 notice William Wis sing, an artfft of great merit, 
 who was born at Amflerdam, and died at Burghley, 
 in 1687, when he was buried at the expenfe of the 
 then Earl of Exeter, in St. Martin's Church, at 
 Stamford. Againfl a pillar, in the middle aifie of the 
 church, is a monumental table to his memoiy, the 
 infcription of which may be feen in Graham. Prior 
 wrote a poem on the laft piclure he painted. A mez- 
 zotinto of Wissing is thus inscribed, " Gulielmus 
 Wissingus inter piclores fui faeculi celeberrimos nulli 
 fecundus, artis fuae non exiguum decus et ornamentum, 
 immodicis brevis ell setas." 
 
154 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 It is faid, that Carlo Maratti, who painted 
 fo much for Burghley, was invited into England, 
 by the Duke of Buckingham, but excufed himfelf, 
 by pleading that he had not fludied long enough at 
 Rome. It was at this city, that fo many of our 
 nobility fat to him ; and where he drew the Earls of 
 Sunderland, Exeter, and Roscommon; Sir Thomas 
 Islam, Mr. Charles Fox, and Mr. Edward Her- 
 bert, of Packington, a great virtuofo. At Burghley 
 we obferved, that the head of Charlfs Cavendish, 
 a boy, with the eyes fhut, was taken by his hand ; 
 but, by it's being fo highly col qui ed, appears rather, 
 as if he was afleep, than dead. We cannot clofe this 
 Section, without obferving, that the Earl of Exeter 
 poflefTes a bafon and ewer, bought at the fale of the 
 Duke of Somerset, with the name of C. Van 
 Via v en, 1632, at the bottom of the ewer, who was 
 one of the principal chafers and embofTers of plate, in 
 the reign of Charles the Firft, whofe works arc 
 greatly commended by Ammolc, 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 1 55 
 
 SECT. XX. 
 
 C3f the other furniture of Burgh- 
 ley it will be now requifite to give a more minute 
 and circumftantial account ; and of this we cannot ex- 
 cite an idea more fuperb, than by obferving, that, in 
 the eighteen elegant apartments, on the fecond floor, 
 there are eight India Cabinets ; which, being compofed 
 of the fined ebony, inlaid with nVrentine Mofaic, tor- 
 toife fhell, and mother of pearl, are all of them ex- 
 tremely rich. Their fummits are all adorned with 2 
 prcfufion of antient china ; and their bafes or pedeftals 
 with fome beautiful jars, compofed of India ware, high- 
 ly fcented with aromatics. " There is no end" fays 
 Mr. Peck, <s of the worked beds, velvet chairs, 8cc." 
 which flattering expreffion, though it feems to exceed the 
 bounds of figures, fimple arithmetic mutt limit to the 
 number of five or fix ; which will even then furpafs the 
 beds of Hate in mod manfions, however noble. The 
 beautiful quadrille table, with the family arms and motto, of 
 
 which 
 
I 5 6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 which the fame gentleman fpeaks, and commends for 
 the art with which it deceives the eye, by fictitious 
 counters and cards, is Hill to be feen here. 
 
 The curtains, counterpanes, and valances of one of 
 thefe beds, are of a beautiful yellow fatin, immenfely 
 thick, fuperbly adorned with hangings of black embroi- 
 dery, and depending taffeta. The arm chairs in this 
 apartment appear in the fame attire, and lupport the 
 fame character. Here alfo we obferved a delicate fquarc 
 Pembroke table, compofed of maple-wood, which grew 
 in the park of the Duke of Ancaster, adorned all 
 round the borders with wood of tulip. So exquifitely 
 is it polifhed, that it prefents, both to the touch and 
 fight, a fenfation like that which is derived from the 
 fmeft filk or fatin. In the adjoining apartment is a 
 fmall portable cabinet, a little larger than a tea-cadi, 
 curioufly inlaid with antient china, in which is de- 
 fer! bed the tfory of Joseph and his brethren, with 
 other facred pieces. It is wrought upon a ground of 
 wood gilt. 
 
 In the great ball room, on each fide of the lofty 
 fretted bow-window, on a pedeftal of japan gilt, two 
 fect from the ground, we behold the effigies of two 
 negro Haves, male and female ; which, kneeling on one 
 knee, fupport upon their heads, about five feet high, a 
 fair of glafs chandeliers. Their attitude is very grace- 
 ful, the idea of which appears to have been taken 
 from the Roman flaves ; who, from their having been 
 accuflomed to report the hour and time of day to their 
 
 mailers, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 mafters, were firft reprefented in the fame podure, in 
 fome of our pleafure grounds, with a fun-dial upon 
 their heads. On each fide down the room, on pedeftals 
 of japan gilt, are fet four fmaller luftres, a number furely 
 fufficient to diffufe a proper light. The mantle-piece, 
 which is covered with china vafes and real antiques of 
 great bulk, in this apartment, is feven feet from the 
 ground, and raifed in folid marble ; nor ihouid we omit 
 to mention, what has been noticed by Howe rave, 
 refpecling the chimney pieces in general, that, though 
 they are fo numerous, they are all of them fronted 
 with marble of a different vein. The fofas and chairs 
 on each fide, which are richly gilt, are adorned with 
 cufhions of a light coloured grafly filk ; and do not 
 interfere fo much with the paintings as furniture of a 
 more heavy or mafiy kind. 
 
 The next apartment, which is about half the fize, 
 abounds with aim oft every thing antique. Four fconces 
 of folid filver, which are affixed to one piece of tape- 
 ftry, and two to another, are all in this ftyle. Speak- 
 ing of tapeftry, Mr. Peck obferves, " But what 
 furpafles all I ever yet faw, cither here or any where 
 elfe, is one little piece, in one of the beft rooms, over 
 the chimney piece, reprefenting a bail at the French 
 court, with their late grand monarch Lewis the Four- 
 teenth, in the middle of it, leading up a lady to 
 dance, and an infinite number of nobility of both fexes 
 looking on. Each figure was defigned for fome eminent 
 perfon in the Court of France at that time; and, 
 though one would think it difficult to hit a likenefs in 
 
 a piece 
 
!£g lilSTORY OF BURGHLEY HOtfSE, 
 
 a piece of tapeftry, efpecially fo many in fo fmall a • 
 one, yet every one, I liave been told, is really like the 
 perfon for whom it was made," This piece, although it 
 ilill ex^ts, was not feen by the author; whofe curiofity, 
 while at Burghley, was without reft. To account 
 for this, it is not improper to inform the reader, that 
 the author apprehends it is now hung in the bed 
 apartment of the prefent Earl and his late amiable 
 Countefs, which was not fo aceeffible to Grangers and 
 himfelf as the other parts of the Houfe. 
 
 Juft under the man tie -piece, which is finely carved, in no' 
 common wood, are two fconces more of a more modern fa- 
 fhion. A filver Ceres, about a fpan long, with fall ears of 
 ripe corn, in folid filver, forms the embellilhment of both. 
 In this room the feet of the grate are compofed of folid 
 Jifoer ; and fo are the ornaments of the fender on each fide. 
 The tongs and fhovel, as well as the handle and muz- 
 zle of the bellows, with the other parts, except a little 
 of the wood work, exhibit the fame metal. There is 
 nothing we could wi(h for more, to make up the 
 fplendour of the hearth, but fuel from Mount ©phir, 
 and incenfe from the Plains of Arabia Felix* 
 
 The curiofity of the author, when at Burghley, 
 •willing to obtain the fulleft knowledge of every thing, 
 generally appealed to it by the touch ; but, as this threa- 
 tened, at times, to coll him dear, he was foon obliged 
 to defift. He had juft been furveying the filver fhovel, 
 with fcepticifm* and had retired to the window to 
 
 write 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. i 
 
 write an item, when down it came, with a found 
 tremendous enough to have alarmed the whole houfe ! 
 As perfons actively engaged are generally molt dilcon- 
 certed at trifles, it is not improbable that he drew his 
 features into a length fomewhat fimilar to thofe of 
 Abel Drugger, when he demoli fried the enchanter's 
 bottle! The wainfeoat is here, as in the Billiard Room, 
 compofed of Norway oak ; and, over and round the 
 doors, finely carved. Of modern furniture, we know 
 none, that deferves that character fo much as a couple 
 of Ikreens, which a Shroplhire Lady prefented to the 
 Earl of her own working, in the courfe of the UaJi 
 three years ; and, by the very coiily manner, in which 
 they are now framed, appear guefts quite worthy of 
 their prelent Hate. 
 
 It is part of the merit of this noble man/ion t<j 
 have it's furniture fo arranged, as in every place, to 
 pleafe, and not offend, the eye ; a circumftance which 
 is, fometimes, too inconfiderately overlooked. Mr. Peck 
 informs us, that there are in one room fome curious 
 hangings, wrought after the defigns of Franciscus 
 Albanu5, a famous Italian painter, which we imagine 
 to be thofe we have already defcribed ; and in the 
 Earl's wardrobe, the cartoons of Raphael, all wrought 
 in tapeftry, and which, at prefent, appear in the great 
 Hall. The cartoons are defigns in what painters call 
 diftemper, or flze and water. There were originally 
 nineteen, twelve of which are in the Vatican, the 
 other feven being fent to Flanders, by Leo the Tenth, 
 to be copied over in tapeftry. The feven cartoons 
 
160 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 were purchafed by Charles the Firft, agreeable t& 
 the advice of Rubens. Thefe arc now in the King** 
 Palace, where tliey were valued at 400,0001. 
 
 As Raphael is pronounced the firft of modern 
 artifts, and we have yet faid but little of him, it may 
 be well to conclude this feclion, in the words of his 
 hiftory, as it appears in the Encyclopaedia. " Ra- 
 phael D'Urbino, the greateft, moll fublime, and 
 in oft excellent painter that has appeared, fince the 
 revival of the fine arts, was the fon of an indifferent 
 artift, named Sanzi, and was born at Urbino, on 
 Good Friday, 1482, The Popes, Julius the Second » 
 and Leo the Tenth, who employed him, loaded him 
 with wealth and honour ; and it is faid that Cardinal 
 De St, Bibiana had fuch a value for him, that he 
 offered him his niece in marriage. His genius is 
 admired in all his pictures ; his contours are free, his 
 ordonnances magnificent, his defigns correct, his figures 
 elegant, his expreiiions lively, his attitudes natural, his 
 heads graceful ; in fine, every thing from his hand, is 
 beautiful, grand, fublime, juft, and adorned with graces. 
 Thefe various perfections he derived not only from 
 his excellent abilities, but from his lludy of antiquity 
 and anatomy ; and from the friendfhip he contracted 
 with Ariosto, who contributed not a little to the 
 improvement of his tafte." 
 
 His pictures arc principally found in Italy and 
 Paris. That of the Transfiguration, preferved at 
 Rome, in the Church of St. Peter Monterio, 
 
 paffed 
 
HISTORY OP BURGHLEY HOUSE. 161 
 
 pafTecl for his m after- piece. He had a handfome per- 
 fon, was well proportioned, and had great fweetnefs of 
 temper; was polite, affable and modeft. He, however, 
 lived in the utmoft fplendour; moll of the eminent 
 mailers of his time were ambitious of working under 
 him ; and he never went out without a crowd of 
 artilts and others, who followed him purely through 
 refpeft. He was not only the heft painter in the 
 world, but, perhaps, the beft architect too ; on which 
 account Leo the Tenth charged him with building 
 St. Peter's Church at Rome: but he was too much 
 addicted to pleafure, which occalioned his untimely 
 death. He left a great number of difciples, among 
 whom were Julio Romano, and John Francis 
 Penni, who w r ere his heirs. Many able engravers, as 
 Raimondi, George Mantuan, and Bloemart* 
 engraved after Raphael." 
 
 SECT. 
 
,62 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XXL 
 
 HEAVING now delivered a minute 
 and circumftantial account of the pictures, ftatues, and 
 other furniture, in the different apartments, we mall, 
 before we leave this noble Manfion, return, once more, 
 to the Library. In this, belides a curious Manufcript 
 Life of the Great Treafurer, by a contemporary author, 
 and his diary, written in his own hand, there is a 
 variety of fcarce and valuable books. In the number 
 of thefe, is an antique tranflation of the New Tefta- 
 menr, by one Richard, a Hermit, who probably 
 lived in the reign of Henry the Second. The firft 
 chapter of Matthew begins in the following quaint 
 manner. u The Boc of the generacoun of Jhu Crist, 
 fone of David, fone of Abraham, Abraham gen- 
 dride Isaac, Isaac forfoye gendride Jacob, Jacob 
 forfoye gendride Judas and hys breytren which, in 
 modern Fnglifh, runs thus: c< The Book of the gene- 
 ration of Jesus Christ, the fon of David, the fon 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 163 
 
 of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac 
 begat Jacob ; and Jacob begat Judas and his bre- 
 thren." 
 
 In the old library, there is a large volume, in 
 folio, of the works of Archimedes, the famous Geo- 
 metrician and aftronomer of Syracufe in Sicily. It is 
 written in Greek and Latin ; and the different propo- 
 rtions are exprefTed by mathematical lines in the man- 
 ner of Euclid. According to Cicero, he was the 
 firft inventor of globes, to prove the motion of the 
 heavens ; and, according to Vitruvius, fhowed how 
 much filver the king's crown was embafed with, with- 
 out breaking it. In the new, there is a moft brilliant 
 edition of the works of the famous Gaspar Lavater ; 
 
 -which are bound up in an elegant quarto, of red 
 Morocco, richly gilt, and fuperbly adorned with cuts, 
 to illuftrate his doctrine. Mr. Peck obferves, that 
 there is here a fine parcel of Roman altars, which 
 the Earl's grandfather of his time brought with him 
 from Italy. Among the books, fays he, there is a 
 very valuable collection of our beft Englifh hiilorians : 
 
 -but the mod choice of them all is an infinite number 
 of Latin, French, and Italian authors, which relate to the 
 hiftory and antiquities of antient Rome. He never 
 faw, he obferves, fo complete a collection of this kind. 
 In fpeaking of medals, which come under this divifion 
 of the fubjedr, he breaks out into the following flrain 
 of poetical admiration ! 
 
 Here ranged, in a coftly feries, view 
 How gay the Csefars in their Medals fliew ! 
 
 u 2 Though 
 
1 64 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Though one would conclude, from thefe lines, 
 that the Caefars were no more than a groupe of mo- 
 dern beaux or travelling petit-maitres, yet he continues, 
 •* of thefe my Lord hath a prodigious fine cabinet, 
 digefted into the proper order of time. Moll of them 
 were collected by my Lord's grandfather, when he 
 travelled abroad, but fome few, I piefume, were the 
 old Lord Treafurer Burleigh's. 5 ' In his MS. Diary, 
 his Lordfhip informs us, Memorandum, quod habeo 
 decern vetuftates Monetas Imperatorum Romanorum, in 
 argento puro ; novem in JErc. Two of thefe, Au- 
 gustus, a .god in brafs, and Nero, a devil in gold, 
 as the donor himfelf calls them, were prefented to his 
 Lordmip by the famous Roger Ascham But Don 
 Diego de Mendoza, afterwards the Spanifh ambaffa- 
 dor in England, and a great critic in thefe things, 
 allured Ascham, that the brafs one alone was a pre- 
 fent fit for an emperor. 
 
 Mr. Peck, for the fatisfaction of his readers, has 
 been pleafed to fubjoin a copy of that elegant Latin 
 epiille, which Ascham tranfmitted to the Lord Bur- 
 leigh, upon the prefent occafion. It runs in the 
 following words : 
 
 " Ornatiffimo viro D. G. Cecilio. Magna cum vo- 
 luptatc, Vir ornatiffime cognovi ex Uteris tuis ad D. Mer 
 Quanta animi propenfione eniteris, ut me tibi beneficio 
 tuo in per-petuum devineas. Spes quam proponis eft 
 mini admodum certa ; et res quam exfpefto erit valde 
 grata. Sed omnino, tua voluntas ell longe jucundi/Tima, 
 
 qua? 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 165 
 
 qux ita expedita eft ad bene de me merendum, ut omnem 
 in me praecurrat vel Gratias agendi facultatem. Itaquc 
 cum gratire, quas tibi referrem, funt penitus nullse ; et 
 quas tibi haberem funt etiam perexiguse: ego (fuperatus 
 re, et dettitutus oratione) referram me at earn, quas 
 fola mihi reli&a eft, et compenfandi Rationem. Subfe. 
 quar te voluntate, ftudio, et perpetua mea obfervantia. 
 Cujus propohti mei duos luculentos obfides. Mitto ad 
 te duos infignes Cxfares, qui ut fe tibi praefentes iifter- 
 ent, ego (veritus nec hunc aereum Deum, nec ilium au- 
 reum Diabolum) utrumque in literaa incluft tuas, 2 
 Aureus nummus minus erit tibi gratus, nam quid 
 peffimo principij cum optimo viro ? fed quia materies eft 
 puriilima et opus prasftantiflimum, fortafTe juvabit te 
 intuerit illam Tyranidem et immanitatem, quae etiam 
 nunc apparet in ipfo vultu et in ipfis faucibus, quomodo 
 in Suetonio etiam fcite defcribitur. JErcus nummus eft 
 valde infignis, et ita infignis, ut ex hac mea faculta- 
 tula nihil ha be am. 
 
 SECT. 
 
166 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XXII. 
 
 LITERARY ANECDOTES 
 OF EMINENT PERSONS, 
 FROM THE LIBRARY AT BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 HOUGH the late Earl of Exeter. 
 
 pcfleiTed two large libraries, antient and modern, of mod 
 elegant books, he never paffed over any curious anec- 
 dote, in the daily London papers, without cutting it 
 out, and very neatly palling it on the inlide of the 
 cover, over againft the title page of the author to 
 whom it belonged. 
 
 Thus, in the firft volume of Pope's Works, in 
 quarto, which are handfomely bound with red leather, 
 richly gilt, we remarked, among many others, the two 
 following of that elegant writer, which, as a fample, 
 we lhall beg to prefent to the reader, 
 
 ANEC- 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 167 
 
 ANECDOTE OF POPE. 
 
 To the Printer of the St. James's Chronicle. 
 
 MR. BALDWIN, 
 
 Queen Caroline died of what the phyficians call 
 a navel rupture; and, for a Jong time before that event, 
 had refufed to fee her eldeft fon. — With allulion to 
 both thefe circumftances, Mr. Pope produced the fol- 
 lowing couplet, by way of epitaph on her Majefty. 
 
 " Here lies, wrapt up in twenty thoufand towels, 
 •* The only proof that Caroline bad bowels." 
 
 The fummons, however, that Paul Whitehead 
 received to appear before the Lords, on account of his 
 Poem called Manners, fo fufficiently intimidated Pope, 
 that he never ventured to publifh a certain fatire, in 
 which his late Majefty's Confort was treated with ftill 
 greater harflinefs. — Take the laft line 4 e & r ipti vc 6f 
 her. 
 
 " And unforgiving, unforgiv'n dies." 
 
 Of the dangers, which the little Bard of Twick- 
 enham might have incurred, by being proved the author 
 of fuch a bitter invective on Royalty, he was thoroughly 
 aware ; infomuch, that fymbols, inftead of names, are 
 employed throughout the manufcript I fpeak of. The 
 King is typified by a Sun, the Queen by a Half 
 
 m 4 Moon, 
 
,63 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 Moon, Some parts of this performance, which is ftill 
 preferved entire, may, one day, fee the light; and, 
 very probably, in the St. James's Chronicle. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 Your moll humble Servant, &c. 
 
 ANECDOTE THE SECOND. 
 (of the same author.) 
 
 Mr. Pope frequently contributed to the Grub- 
 ftreet Journal, a literary newfpaper of his time. — 
 Among other pieces is the following notice of his mo- 
 ther's death, in the paper of June 14, 1733. f* Laft 
 week died at Twickenham, in Middlefex, in the 93d 
 year of her age, Mrs. Edith a Pope, mother of 
 Alexander Pope, Efq. — She was the lait furviving 
 of the children of William Turnqr, Efq. of York $ 
 who, by Thomasine Newton, his wife, had four- 
 teen daughters and three fons 5 two of which died in 
 the King's fervice in the Civil Wars, and the elded 
 retired to Spain, where he died a general officer. — 
 She lived with her fon, her only child, from the 
 time of his birth to her death ; and was carried to 
 the grave by fix poor men, to whom were given fuits 
 of a dark grey cloth ; and followed by fix poor wo- 
 men, in the fame fort of mourning. She was interred 
 near the monument of her hufband, on which is 
 
 p. O. MU, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 D. O. M. 
 Alexandro Pope, viro innocuo probo 
 pio, qui vixit annos 75, Obiit 1717. 
 £t Ediths conjugi inculpabili plentifiima?, 
 Oui vixit annos 93, Obiit 1733. 
 Parentibus bene merentibut 
 Filius fecit. 
 
 The author furmifing, from thefe fpecimens, it 
 Was the EarJPf general cuftom to infert fimilar anecdotes 
 in the introductory volumes of the other Poets, took 
 down the firft volume of Swift, which was near, 
 from the fhelf ; and, to his great fatisfaclion, found 
 his curiofity rewarded by the following 
 
 ANECDOTE OF DEAN SWIFT. 
 
 It has not been remarked by any of his hiftorlans, 
 but the Dean entertained a moil virulent hatred to 
 the memory of William the Third; which he often 
 exprelTed in very bitter terms, when in the company 
 of his intimates. He was accuftomed to ilyle that 
 monarch a a bloody and remorfelefs tyrant," and would 
 commonly add, that, fo far from his country receiving 
 any benefit from him, he and his favourites only were 
 the gainers. Swift dined one day with feveral friends 
 of both parties, in Crow-ftreet, when the converfation 
 turned upon a paraphrafe, which Concannon had 
 lately made of Prior's celebrated Epitaph. It was as 
 follows : 
 
 « Hold, 
 
x 7 o 
 
 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 rt Hold, Matthew Prior, by your leave, 
 
 " Your Epitaph is iomewhat odd ; 
 
 " Bourbon and you were fans of Evt f 
 
 " MJfau he offspring of a God/* 
 
 The Dean, ffiaking his head, faid, " Let us fee, 
 whether a man, who is neither a fool nor a parailte, 
 cannot write four lines, that will found as well as 
 thofe ; and, taking Dr. Sheridan's pencil, wrote die 
 following ; 
 
 u HoI<J, friend Concannon, by your leave, 
 " Your parap rafe is hardly civil; 
 €e Bourbon and Mat were fons of Eve 9 
 gc Najau the offspring of a Devil." 
 
 ANECDOTE THE SECOND* 
 (of the SAME author.) 
 
 The Dean, in his lunacy, had fome intervals of 
 fenfe, at which time his guardians or phyficians took 
 him out for the air. When they came to the Parle, 
 Swift remarked a new building, which he had never 
 feen, and afked what it was defigned for* to which 
 Dr. Kingsbury anfwered, " That, Mr. Dean, is 
 the magazine for arms and powder, for the fecurity of 
 the city," " Oh, Oh," fays the Dean, pulling out his 
 
 pocket 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. t«g 
 
 pocket book, <c let me take an item, this is worth 
 remarking in my tablets, as Hamlet fays, my tablets. 
 —-Memory, put down that!" which produced the fol- 
 lowing lines, being the laft he ever wrote : 
 
 " Behold a proof of Irifli fenfe ! 
 
 fi Here Irifh wit is feen ; 
 €t When nothing's left that's worth defence, 
 
 ** We build a Magazine I" 
 
 And then, putting up his pocket book, laughing 
 heartily at the conceit, and clinching it with, '* After 
 the deed's flolen, fhut the liable door after which 
 he never faid a fenfible word ; fo that thefe lines may 
 be faid to have been the laft fpeech and dying words 
 of his wit ! 
 
 The works of moft of the great writers, at 
 Burgh ley, are enriched in this manner; and it would 
 require confiderable time to tranfcribe all the mifcel- 
 laneous matter of this kind, which is to be found in 
 them. As thefe anecdotes, are not related by the authors 
 of the lives of thefe writers, they become doubly ac- 
 ceptable ; and are, for that reafon, more highly deierv- 
 ing of notice* 
 
 Thus, in every point of view, from one end of 
 the houfe to the other, the mind, as well as the eye, is 
 
 entertained ; 
 
IjZ HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 entertained ; and, as the minority of the heir apparent 
 fortunately preferved it, in the time of Cromwell's civil 
 wars, from conhTcation and ruin, fo has the emula- 
 tion of its fucceflive noble owners, ever lince, added 
 one Guriofity to another, until it is now fcarcely lefs 
 complete in anecdote, than it is in beauties of every 
 other kind. 
 
 SECT, 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE* 173 
 
 SECT. XXIIL 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
 LIFE OF WILLIAM LORD BURLEIGH, 
 
 Lerd High Treafurer of England, in tH Reign of Queen EUfabeth* 
 
 AVilliam cectl, Lord b u r ls i g % 
 
 Knight of the Order of the Garter, Lord High Trea- 
 furer of England, and Matter of her Majefty's 'Queen 
 Elisabeth's Wards and Liveries, according to the 
 ©Id Manufcript Life, at Burghley, publilhed fome 
 time ago, by Arthur Collins, was born at Boorn, 
 in the County of Lincoln, the 13th day of Septem- 
 ber, 1 521. His father, Richard Cecil, of Burgh- 
 ley, in the County of Northampton, Efqurre, was a 
 Principal Officer of the Robes, in the time of King 
 Henry the Eighth; a place which, though now litxte 
 eiteemed, was then held in great eflLrnatioa.. 
 
1 7+ HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 His Lordfhip, fays the old manufcript, being in 
 his infancy fo pregnant in wit, and defirous to learn, 
 was virtuoufly educated at Grantham and Stamford 
 fchools, in the county of Lincoln ; and, at the age of 
 fourteen years, in May 27th Henry VIII. went to 
 Cambridge, where he was a fludent in St. John's 
 College. Being uncommonly diligent at his fludies, he 
 hired the bell-ringer to call him up at four of the 
 clock every morning ; and it is fuppofed, that by his 
 continual watchings and fedentary life, he firlt con- 
 tracted a humour in his legs, which was afterwards 
 found to terminate in the gout. One Med calf, 
 mafter of the College, feeing his affiduity, would often 
 prefent him money, as an encouragement ; and fuch was 
 his fuccefs, that he was permitted to read the fophiltry 
 le&urc at fixteen, and the Greek when he was fcarce 
 nineteen years of age. After he had taken the degree 
 of Mailer of Arts, and continued at the Univerfity 
 about fix years, he removed to Gray's Inn, where he 
 reaped farther advantage, by ftudying the law. 
 
 About the latter part of King Henry the Eighth's 
 reign, Mr. Cecil, coming from Gray's Inn to Court, 
 to fee his father, by accident met, in the prefencc 
 • chamber, with two prielts, who were chaplains to 
 O'Neale; with whom it is faid, he maintained fo 
 learned a difpute, in Latin, as totally to difconcert 
 them both. This incident, introducing him to his Ma- 
 jefty, was the means of his becoming a fuitor for a 
 Reverfion of the Cultos Brevium Office, in the Court 
 ©f Common Pleas. In the firft year of King Edward 
 
 the 
 
HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 the Sixth, the Duke of Somerset, then Lord Pro- 
 tector, hearing of his great powers, conftituted him a 
 Matter of his requefts ; and he, foon after, went with 
 the Duke to Muflelborough field, where he ran a great 
 rifque of lofing his life. 
 
 In the fecond year of the fame reign, being in- 
 volved in fome accufations brought againit. the Duke, 
 he was committed to the Tower, where he remained 
 about three months: but young Edward's great par- 
 tiality for Mr. Cecil, being, at laft, perceived by the 
 .Duke of Somerset, he preferred him, in the third 
 year of his reign, to be Secretary of State, a Coun- 
 fellor to the King, and to the honour of Knighthood, 
 when Mr. Cecil was then but twenty-live yean of 
 .age. 
 
 When Queen Mary came to the Crown, fh^ 
 granted Sir William Cecil, who had, in the for- 
 mer reign, been attached to the Proteitant caufe, a 
 general pardon ; and offered, if he would change his 
 religion, to adopt him as her Secretary and Counci- 
 lor : but her filler, Queen Elisabeth, beginning to 
 reign foon after, he was, for his truth and iteady at- 
 tachment to his Sovereign, actually advanced to both, 
 llations. She often permitted him to fit down in her 
 prefence, and honoured him with feveral viuts to con- 
 fole hrm in his ficknefe. The deep fenfe (he had of 
 his abilities and ferviee, is well exprefie in the pre- 
 amble to her patent, creating him Lord Burleigh j 
 a Being moved thereto, (he hys } by certain expe- 
 rience 
 
17 6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 riencc of his cireumfpefiion, courage, prudence, dexterity,, 
 probity of life, forefght, care, and fidelity, Sec. &c." Iri 
 the fecond year of the Queen, he was fent into Scot- 
 land, to treat of peace; which he happily effected, 
 upon honourable terms, to the great and univcrfal bene-* 
 fit of the Kingdom! 
 
 The limits, by which we are confined, will not 
 permit us to expatiate upon all the advantages derived 
 from the wifdom, and fettering attention of this great 
 man. There was not a day, in term time, but he re- 
 ceived fourfcore or a hundred petitions, which he com- 
 monly perufed that night, and anfwered himfelf, the 
 next morning, as he went into the hall. His memory 
 is faid to have been fo tenacious, that he was able, as 
 foon as he heard the name of the petitioner, to call to 
 mind all the circumftances of his fuit. He was ac- 
 cu domed to anfwer the pooreit perfon by word of 
 mouth ; but, when he became infirm, they were or- 
 dered to fend in their petitions, fealed up, that the 
 requefts of the indigent might reach him with thofe of 
 the rich. His reputation was fo great in foreign coun- 
 tries, as well as his own, that a great man of France, 
 who was in England, wrote to the French king, faying, 
 he was the wifeft Counfellor of Chriftiandome ; and, 
 that, in the Court, he was accounted Pater Patriae ; and, 
 among the common people, quafi Rex. When his 
 Lordfhip's grandchild, Mr. William Cecil, travelled 
 into Italy, and was introduced to Cardinal Farnesse, 
 a man of great authority, he was treated with the 
 higheft refpecl, cordiality, and afFeftion, upon the fimple 
 
 difcovery^ 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 177 
 
 difeovery, that he was a defcendant of the great 
 Treafurer's. Similar to this was the conduct of the 
 Duke of Florence to Mr. Edward Cectl, a 
 younger brother. 
 
 The Lord Burleigh is faid to have been little 
 moved at the viciilitudes of fortune, never dejefted in 
 bad, and never elate in good ; a feature of conduct 
 flill fomewhat characleriftic of one of his family at the 
 prefent day. The author of his life, or rather his 
 panegyric, obferves, he was fo Uriel, in his adminif- 
 tration of juftice, as to refufe any prefent which was 
 offered him ; which he demonftrates by the inftance 
 of a buck and fome pieces of plate. He principally 
 kept two houfes, one at London, trie other at Theo- 
 balds ; though he was at fome expenfe both at 
 Burghley and the court. His alms amounted to 
 about 500I. a year, which, at the prefent day, is about 
 three times that fum. So far from the Queen affift- 
 ing him to build Burghley House, that he is faid 
 to have expended at Theobalds, not lefs than two or 
 three thoufand pounds, at twelve different times, in 
 order to entertain her ; when fhe would continue with 
 him for a whole month, or fix weeks together. Her 
 Majefty even went fo far, as, fometimes, to give 
 audience to her EmbafTadors at Theobalds 1 where fhe 
 has been feen in as great royalty, and as magnificently 
 ferved, as at any other time or place. He was, fays 
 our author, in his old Englifh ftyle, €i greatly delighted in 
 making gardens, fountains and walks, which, at The- 
 obalds, were perfected, moil coftly 3 beutyfully and 
 $ pkafatmtly 
 
I 7 8 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 pleafauntly, where one might walk, two myle in the 
 walks before he came to the cndes." Never did he 
 raife his rents, nor difplace his tenants ; and I know 
 fbme of them, fays this contemporary author, who paid 
 him but 20I. per annum, for land and tenements which 
 were worth 200I. 
 
 As he thought it the principal prop and fecurity 
 of a Hate, he was remarkably careful in preferring 
 devout perfons only in the miniftiy ; and, how much 
 he was impreffed with a fenfe of religion will appear, 
 from his conftant attendance to all its duties, and the 
 extraordinary folemn preface to his laft will and tefta- 
 ment. All the time he was fecretary, he never failed 
 to be at Chapel, in the Queen's houfe, every morning, 
 as long as he could ; and, when unable to go abroad, 
 he knelt down to his devotion, on a cufhion, which 
 was laid by his bed-lide for that purpofe. 
 
 To his children no man was more loving and 
 tender ; and, yet with fo much moderation, that he 
 feemed more inwardly kind, than outwardly fond. If 
 he could get his table, fays the author, fet round 
 with his young little children, he was then in his 
 kingdom. It was exceeding pleafure, fays he, to hear 
 what fport he would make with them : and how 
 aptlie and rnerrilie he would talk with them : with fuch 
 prettie queftions, and wittie allurements, as much 
 delighted himfelf, the children and the hearers. There 
 were many proceeding from him ; and his mother 
 could trace the fifth defcent from herfelf, a happy- 
 mother, as Ihe was, and he a blelTed fon ; for, as the 
 
 fcripturc 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 179 
 
 fcripture fays, he had feen his children's children, and 
 peace upon the land* 
 
 Very confpicuous was his great temperance, and 
 diflike of oftentation ; for, if he could ride, privately, 
 in his garden, upon his mule, or lie a day or two 
 at his lodge, at Theobalds, retired from bufinefs, he 
 thought himfelf fupremely happy. Though the cares 
 of the whole kingdom Jay upon him, it was never 
 perceived at his table, where he would be as chearful 
 as any of his guefts. His recreation was chiefly in 
 his books, and the converfation of learned men ; for 
 which, if he could fpare time, he preferred to cards 
 or any other amufement. His pleafure, as the writer 
 of his life obferves, was labour and ttudy to others ; 
 and their labour to him but a mere recreation. 
 
 He never appears to have taken any into his 
 confidence and favour, as moft great men do. His 
 fecrets he fo inviolably kept fuch, that none ever 
 knew them, or had him in their power. He took 
 fuch delight in tracing pedigrees, in which he was fo 
 expert, that he wrote whole books of them with his 
 own hand. He obferved all the occurrences of the 
 day, which he continued to note down in writing, 
 from the time he was nineteen to that of his death. 
 Providence at length, feems to have taken him away, 
 at his own requeft, after an honourable and important 
 fervice to his country of near forty years. His gout 
 on his ftomach, and his continual anxiety to procure 
 a peace, are fuppofed to have haflened him to this 
 n 2 fatal 
 
x So HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 fatal period. His retort to the Earl of Essex, when 
 this bufinefs was in debate, and who, a few year* 
 afterwards loll his head, is amazingly remarkable. The 
 Lord Treafurer, perceiving the Earl intent upon the 
 profecution of the war, in fpite of all his arguments, 
 produced a prayer book at laft, and, without a word 
 more, prophetically addreffed him in the following 
 phrafe, * 4 Men of blood fhall not live out half their 
 days." 
 
 Among the Lord Burleich's maxims, we may- 
 quote thefe few. That he built more upon an honett 
 man's word than a bad man's bond ; that no wife 
 prince can be a tyrant ; that a realm gaineth more by 
 one year's peace, than by ten years war: and that he 
 never cared to fee the Treafury fwell, like a difordercd 
 fpleen, when the other parts of the commonwealth 
 were in a consumption. He left the world with 
 fuch a reputation, that his very enemies declared they 
 envied him nothing fo much as the luflre of his fetting 
 fun. 
 
 He was, fays Camden, a moll extraordinary 
 perfon ; who, befides his prefencc and afpec"l, which 
 poflelTed a commanding fweetnefs, had few or nG 
 fuperiors whatever. His Lordlhip was twice married, 
 iirft to Mary Cheek, a filter of Sir John Cheek, 
 Knight, by whom he had one fon, named Thomas, 
 who was created Earl of Exeter, by King James 
 the Firft: and afterwards, to Meld rid Cooke, one 
 
 of 
 
HISTORY OF RURGHLEY HOUSE. 181 
 
 ©f the daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke, Knight, 
 by whom he had fix children, three of which died 
 young. His laft lady was fo well verfed in the 
 Greek, as to be able to tranflate a piece of St. 
 Chrysostom, from out of that language, into 
 Englifh. 
 
 SECT, 
 
l$Z HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XXIV. 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF BURGHLEY. 
 
 T'hERE is reafon to believe, that the 
 noble marble ftatue of Andromeda and the Sea 
 Monfter is one of thofe which has been longeft at 
 Burghley; as Mr. Peck, who wrote fo long ago, 
 fcarcely makes mention of any other. It was hewn 
 out of one block of white marble, by Peter Mo not, 
 of Befancon ; and the apartments of Burghley 
 Houfe are adorned with many other pieces of fculp- 
 ture by the fame hand. It ftands at the upper end 
 of a venerable old Gothic hall, 70 feet by 30, which was 
 formerly a part of a monaflery more antique than the 
 houfe ; and infufes all thofe ideas of the fublime, 
 which the chifel of that fculptor is known to excite. 
 We are informed, that the artift was enabled to 
 portion his daughter in marriage with the fum which 
 
 he 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. i8j 
 
 he obtained for this ftatue ; which, if it bore rate 
 with its real merit, was certainly very great. As 
 Andromeda is drawn fitting down, and chained to 
 the rock, me is fcarcely more than five feet from 
 the pedeftal ; but, allowing for the natural proportions 
 of her perfon, and her height, when landing up, lhe 
 is furely nearly feven. It would have been well, 
 if Mr, Peck had been content with his profe defcrip- 
 tion of Andromeda; but, by endeavouring to do 
 her new honour in verfe, he has only expofed himfelf. 
 
 " Andromeda In all her charms expos' d, 
 w The Monfter with his horrid fangs difclos'd, 
 u Rifes and gapes beneath the virgin's feet, 
 i§ As if he would the very marble eat." 
 
 Thefe lines were intended for fublime, but the 
 wings of the poet being too weak, he has come fliort 
 of his quarry, and foufed headlong to the ground. 
 They have, however, difficult as it is to reduce them 
 to the rules of common fenfe, been quoted by another 
 writer fince his time. 
 
 Charms, in the firft place, are not, like crimes 
 and deformities, the fubjeel: of fhame ; and what is 
 not the fubjeft of fhame cannot, with accuracy, be 
 faid to be expofed, unlefs the author alluded to thofe 
 charms, which the decency of mankind mult conceal ; 
 and, on which he, as an antiquarian, in particular, 
 had no bufinefs to look. As what is expofed, muft 
 be difclofed, and what is difclofed is often expofed, 
 the firft couplet difcovers a very unmeaning tautology, 
 
 k 4 and 
 
lg + HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 and reminds us of what Pope obferves of fuch another 
 Bavius or Maevius as himfelf. 
 
 M Means not, but blunders round about a meaning. 1 * 
 
 u When the heart of their myftery, however, is 
 plucked out," it would feem that the Monfter, fo 
 far from endeavouring to devour her, brings her forth 
 at his mouth ; and, with his fangs, like a ikilful 
 midwife, is ftriving to conclude the operation. If 
 this author had not been a Majler of Arts, fo c ailed y 
 we fhould not, with fo much attention, have fcrutinized, 
 his powers : but certain we are, that nature and com- 
 mon ienfe are fuperior to all the airy honours of a 
 Univerfity. We have before remarked, that Virgil 
 is fuppofed, by his Commentators, to have borrowed 
 his idea of La a coon and his fons, encompafTed by the 
 fnakes, from a famous ftatue, which was extant in his 
 time ; and, as fculpture and poetry mutually furnifh. 
 ideas to one another, why may not Shakespear, in 
 a fimilar manner, have feen fome fuch marble image 
 of Andromeda and the Sea Monfter, when he puts 
 thefe words into the mouth of King Lear ? " In- 
 gratitude, thou marble hearted fiend, more hideous 
 than the Sea Monfter !" for, furely, the connection of 
 his ideas would lead to fo natural and obvious a 
 conclufion. 
 
 In St. Martinis Church, at Stamford, we 
 cbferved fome other pieces of fculpture, by the fame 
 cgquifite hand ; and, particularly the monument of 
 
 John 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 185 
 
 John Earl of Exeter and his Countefs, which is 
 icarcely exceeded by any thing in Weftminfter Abbey. 
 On either fide of Andromeda, in the old hall, 
 ftand two well proportioned figures of Venus, in 
 plaifter of Paris. They are about the fize of the 
 ancient Venus ; and, as they incline moderately for- 
 ward, do not exceed five feet ; though when upright, 
 they may be many inches more. 
 
 Of the cartoons, in this part of the houfe, the 
 ftory of each is taken from fcripture ; and that, at 
 the lower end, which is oppofite to the ftatues juft 
 defcribed, is defcriptive of a pafTage in the A&s of 
 the Apoftles, where Paul forbids the people of Lyftra 
 to facrifice to him and Barnabas. If the curious 
 fpeclator pofTefs courage enough to afcend a large 
 ladder, thirty -five or forty feet from the ground, 
 regardlefs of its motion, he may difcover the following 
 words in Latin, at the bottom of the border : Paul us 
 Lyflrse Claudum fanat et fibi facrificaturos prohibet. 
 A large ox is reprefcnted in this piece, ready crowned 
 with his garlands, and about to fall by the hand of 
 the prieft, before the altar ; with which the other 
 figures in the groupe feem to bear a becoming analogy. 
 On another, Christ is defcribed^ as he delivers the 
 Jceys to St. Peter; and, on a third, as he is healing 
 the blind, and the like. They are in an uncommon 
 fine flate of prefervation ; extend four or five yards 
 each way ; and, by their bulk, feem to bear a becom- 
 ing proportion to the domicilium or receptacle they 
 pofTefs. In a niche, at the lower end of the hall, is 
 
 a fmall 
 
iS6 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE; 
 
 o 
 
 m del of Niobe and her children, by Nolikens, 
 from antique ftatues, in the gallery at Florence ; and, 
 if we recoiled right, we believe in plaiftcr of Paris, 
 or fome fuch other compofition. The floor of this 
 cxtenfive place is new laid with Ketton ftone ; and, 
 in a hard winter, may furnilh an afylum for the 
 Robins, Wrens, and other fmall birds, whom the 
 rigors of the feafon naturally compel to a place of 
 Ihelter. That many of them had lately fluttered along 
 it's gothic roof and windows is probable, from thofe 
 proofs of their flight, which birds are known to leave 
 behind ; and which are flill vifible on the polifhed 
 limbs of Andromeda, the Sea Monfter, and the two 
 Venufles on each fide. In a void, under one of the 
 windows, there has been placed a little aflembly of 
 canary birds, which, in the fummer, is well adapted 
 to incubation ; but, on the approach of winter, we 
 apprehend rather too chill for their nature and con- 
 ftitution. One, who is difpofed to ferious imprefTions, 
 and yet, unaccu Homed, in daily life, to walk fuch 
 apartments as thefe, may experience, we conceive, from 
 the echoes which purfue him, and, in a manner pro- 
 claim their own loftinefs and folemnity, a gloomy 
 langour, which is at no great diftance from dejection 
 of mind. Such maffes of ftone, fuch vaft efforts of 
 art, and fuch fuperfluities of magnificence, cannot but 
 opprefs the mind of an ordinary perfon ; and, after he 
 has gratified his curiofity, and enlarged his knowledge, 
 it will be well, if he retire, like the moral author of 
 the Spectator, from a folitary walk in Weftminfter 
 At>bey, the votary of ufeful and prudent reflection. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 187 
 
 SECT. XXV. 
 
 THOUGH the Pleafure Ground of 
 Burghley, particularly that part, - which forms the 
 Shrubbery, was not planned until about thirty five 
 years ago, it is allowed, for its extent, to be one of 
 the moft beautiful in the Kingdom. Jt was the 
 genius of the late Launcelot Brown, which, brood- 
 ing over the fhapelefs mafs, educed out of a feeming 
 wildernefs, all the order and delicious harmony which 
 now prevail. Like the great Captain of the lfraelites, 
 he led forth his troop of fturdy plants into a feem- 
 ingly barren land ; where he difplayed ftrange magic, 
 and furprized them with miracle after miracle ! 
 
 Though the beauties, with which we are here 
 ftruck, are more peculiarly the rural beauties of Mr. 
 Brown, than thofe of Dame Nature, (he feems to 
 wear them with fo fimplc and unaffecled a grace, that 
 
 it 
 
l8S HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 it is not even the man of tafte who can, at a fupcr- 
 ficial glance, difcern the difference. Though much 
 has been done, and large Turns exhaufted, in bringing 
 it to perfection, the gardener is flill in queft of frefh 
 beauty ; fo that, in a little time, we may expect to 
 hear* 
 
 c * New falls of Water murmuring in the ear." 
 
 Though it is not, like the capacious domains of 
 Stow* fofTefled of a column, 150 feet high, and, that, 
 a* it were, in imitation of the ancient Babel, with 
 great judgment, has Mr. Brown conformed to thofe 
 ornaments, which are beft proportioned to its extent and 
 fize. If we are not ftruck, at every diftant view, as 
 at Stow, with a profpect of Heathen Temples, he has 
 erected one in the ftyle of the modern Gothic, after 
 the model of that at Cambdcn, in Gloucefterfhire, the 
 effect of which is as general as it is beautiful. 
 
 As his art has been more ftrikingly exerted in the 
 Cultivation, as well as in the arrangement, of the moft 
 elegant trees and ihrubs, than in more artificial beauties 
 of brick and ftone, that art does not fo immediately * 
 appear; while he never departs from thofe lines, which 
 are called the lines of nature, and are, in the opinion of 
 a great artift, the fource of beauty. There is nothing 
 to be found at Burghley of what Mr. Pope objects 
 to the grounds of Lord Tim on, that 
 
 " each alley has its Brother, 
 ** And half the platform juft reflects the other 
 
 but 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 1S9 
 
 but that rather fubfifts, which Milton has beautifully 
 iung of his Paradife. 
 
 " Overhead up grew 
 u Infuperable height of loftieft ftiadv% 
 " Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 
 " A fylvan fcene; and as the ranks afcend, 
 " Shade above (hade, a Woody Theatre 
 « Of ftateiieftview!'* 
 
 From a fimple fpring, 
 
 " With mazy error, under pendant fhades/* 
 
 a copious river, near a mile long, is now derived 3 
 which, winding through the fhrubbery and park, proves 
 a mutual ornament to both ! The bank oh either fide 
 is feen to fall into a graceful flope; and to rife, with 
 much wanton boldnefs, towards the park, in all the 
 gloom and theatrical pomp of wood ! A principal 
 walk in the fhrubbery is lower, by many feet, than 
 the furface of this noble dream ; and twice or thrice, 
 when the workmen thought it well fecured, did it 
 elude their pains, furmount its dam, and, carrying all 
 before it, fubject them to new toil i 
 
 In this walk, is to be feen a venerable ancient 
 oak, in its laft century of exiftence, which is itfelf a 
 picture, and the facred patriarch of the made ! To a 
 fanciful mind, it may well pafs for that which h 
 called Hern's Oak, in the Merry Wives of Windfor, 
 under which the fairies are faid to have pinched and 
 
 tortured 
 
I go HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 
 
 tortured Sir John Falstaff. I difcerned nothing, 
 however, under it, when I firft faw it, which was on 
 a fine morning in July, but a pair of fquirrels ; who 
 had been brulhing away the early dew with their tails, 
 and which, at the found of my unhappy fteps, broke 
 up their fpell, and afcended the tree once more. It 
 may make excellent fire wood one day, and, at fome 
 future chriftmas, warm the cold nofe, and ftill the 
 chattering jaws, of many a poor tenant, that is yet to 
 come. 
 
 When it is confidered in how furprifing a manner 
 Mr. Brown removed trees of the moft enormous 
 bulk, from place to place, to fuit the profpeft and 
 landfcape, the prediction in Mackbeth, that ** Ber- 
 nam wood mould, one day, come to Dunfinane," ap- 
 pears to have really happened. I myfelf remarked, 
 with fome aftonifhment, the extraordinary bulk of one 
 of thefe, which from having been a naiad of the 
 middle ftream, was placed in a fituation, where, with 
 its pendent boughs, it could protect its votaries. The 
 green alcoves, which are reared in the different parts 
 of the Ihrubbery, appear in character with the fur- 
 rounding fcenes ; and, by the neat little mahogany 
 cafes, which they contain, furnilhed with the Englifli 
 poets, and other works of tafte, are highly calculated 
 to amufe. Their exaft meafure has been taken by 
 the author ; but, as a circumftantial minutenefs might 
 appear tedious, he thinks it more pleafmg to recur at 
 once to more important matter. 
 
 The 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. igi 
 
 The walk, which runs fouth of the houfe, is, in 
 our opinion, the moll pleating of the park ; not only 
 as it is moil natural in itfelf, but as it catches a fine 
 view of the water, the noble manfion, with its tur- 
 rets, on the other fide, the Gothic temple, the fhrub- 
 bery, and the adjoining country beyond ; which appears, 
 by imperceptible degrees of diflance, to melt away I 
 The feats, which were formerly erected here, having 
 been defaced and much abufed, by fome of the lower 
 clafs of the Stamford gentry, who frequently refort to 
 it, the late Earl thought proper to remove them alto- 
 gether ; conceiving it more conformable to true talte to 
 fuffer his park to be now without. However capable 
 a ftranger may be of toiling from one end to the 
 other, without the relief of fitting down, he might 
 furely find fome what of that afliftance in a feat* 
 which he expects from a poft with a pointing 
 finger ; as it is generally placed in fome confpicu- 
 ous part of the ground, to defcry a particular beauty 
 of the diftant profpe<ft, which he would otherwife, mod 
 probably, overlook. But we are doomed to rue the 
 misfortunes of our own imprudence- 
 
 Acrofs the river a very fuperb bridge of three 
 arches is now built, at the four ends of which are four 
 lions couchant, in itone of the fame materials ; and* 
 by their near refemblance to nature, polfefs an 
 air of great magnificence. Should the inconfider- 
 ate traveller carry his depredations even to thefc, 
 the punifhment which would await the facri- 
 lege, could not, I think, be long delayed. As the 
 
 bridge 
 
igz HISTORY OF BURGKLEY HOUSE. 
 
 brigdc commands a very general profpeft of the- tow- 
 ering manfion, the herds of deer, droves of cattle, 
 and flocks of Spanifti flieep, the fenfations they ex- 
 cite, on a fine day, are not a little pleafant. The 
 green protuberance of the upland lawn, in particular, 
 on which I beheld the lad, all bafking in the fun at 
 cafe, and bruflhing away the Hill returning infects, en- 
 riched the landfcape with features of no common and 
 of no vulgar kind. As there is not an animal that 
 ranges here, but is preferved with a view to its 
 form and beauty, the ill-favoured ones alone are doom- 
 ed to bleed. 
 
 The Keeper's Lodge, where I beheld five bucks 
 juft flain, is an elegant, neat little manfion ; but thofe 
 tufts of venerable wood, thofe lofty trees, which feem 
 to have outlived the eagle, and, like him, to extend 
 their fantaltic branches to the fun, imprefs us, at every 
 Hep, with fentiments of the deeped awe ! Such are, 
 in part, the beauties of the lovely park, under the 
 fhade of which, a muling mind might love to dream. 
 
 In the flirubbery, where we muft now re- 
 turn, arc a variety of the moft beautiful exotics, which 
 have become fo familiar with the foil, as to fport in 
 a fort of native luxuriance. The Gothic temple ap- 
 pears in the midfl of thefe, and is about twenty two 
 feet by eighteen ; and, befides a ftriking likenefs of 
 Mr. Brown, contains the head of William Duke 
 of Cumberland, placed upon a marble flab. 
 What are the religious rites of this temple I have 
 
 never 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 193 
 
 never been able to learn; though, if I may judge by 
 the fifliing rod, which I found on it's marble pave- 
 ment, the facrifices muft be performed in the old 
 apoftolic way, by fifh from the neighbouring . ftream. 
 
 A little on one fide of the temple, is a little cir- 
 cular recefs, of about 280 feet ; which feems to have 
 been formed with the exprefs intention of excluding 
 all the cares of life. We pafs to it through a labyrinth 
 of laurel, and find there a filence little lefs profound 
 than that of the grave itfelf. 
 
 u It is a place 
 " Chofen by the fov'ran Planter, when he fram'd 
 cc AH things to man's delightful life; the roof 
 " Of thickeft covert was enwoYen (hade 
 4e Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
 *' Of firm and fragrant leaf ; on either fide 
 " Acanthus, and each odorous bufhy fhrub 
 
 Fenc'd up the verdant wall; each beauteous flow'f, 
 *' Iris all hues, rofes and jeflamine, 
 < s Rear'd high their flouriftVd head* between, and wrought 
 M Mofaie." 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 A fpreading lime with extending foliage, Ms up 
 the middle fpace ; and a green alcove, on one fide 
 enables the penfive fludent to bring his great concep- 
 tions to a happy and an eafy birth. Here might fome 
 Newton think, or Milton write; fome ftatefman 
 weigh his fchemes of policy, or plan a form of 
 government 5 while forrow preys upon objecls of de- 
 parted worth, and love, unhappy love, returns to all 
 the dalliance of its former weaknefs. 
 
 0 Tim.; 
 
I 9 4 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 The melancholy ilealing over me, induced me to 
 return with fpeed ; and, on the oppofite fide the temple, 
 to explore a laurelled recefs of a circumference fome- 
 what lefs, where (lands an elegant monument, four 
 feet high, creeled to the memory of Hannah Sophia 
 Chambers, Countefs of Exeter, with this infeription. 
 
 Oh thou moft lov'd, moll Valued, mofl rever'd, 
 Accept this tribute, to thy merit due ; 
 Nor blame me, if by each fond tie endear'd, 
 I bring again your virtues into view. 
 
 Thefe lonely fcenes your mem'ry fhall reftore, 
 Here oft for thee the filent tear be flied ; 
 Bclov'd thro* life, till life can charm no more, 
 And mourn'd till filial piety be dead. 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 SECT. XXVII. 
 
 On the fouth eaft.fide of -the houfe, 
 at a commodious diftance from the old Gothic hall, 
 we behold a large oval bafon of gold and filver fifh, 
 140 feet in circumference: and, on one fide of 
 this, the Green-houfe, which is 100 by 18. The 
 water in the bafon is always, as faft . as it enters, run- 
 ning out; fo, that, on a clear funny fummer's day, 
 its bumifhed inhabitants may be feen at a depth con- 
 fiderably below the furface, notwithstanding the quan- 
 tity of water lily, which mantles over it. In the 
 fummer months, when the weather will permit, the 
 fhrubs are elegantly difpofed, in the fliape of crefcents 
 and half moons, on the four different fides of this 
 piece of water; and, from the earthen pots, and tubs 
 of mould, in which they are fet, extend from a few 
 .inches, to eight or nine feet in height. 
 
 Here the botaniit may revifit his old acquaintance! 
 of ekher Indies ; and, in a fpace of no great extent, 
 
 0 2 furvey 
 
l 9 6- HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE. 
 
 furvey the efTence and quintefTence of the choiceft 
 plants of both the tropics. Moll of thofe, which 
 have been difcovered at Botany Bay, appear here ; and, 
 whatever their virtue, do certainly exhibit a very 
 Angularly pleaflng picture to the eye ! Some of thefe 
 I foon after furveyed at the feat of a neighbouring 
 nobleman ; but they were not difpofed in quite fo 
 regular and methodical an order as they are here. 
 In a few years they will, doubtlefs, become more 
 common ; and, as their novelty wears off, be purchafed 
 at an eafy rate. Of all the curiofities, however, of 
 the vegetable world, which I remarked, none pleafed 
 me fo much as the Camphire tree, which was about 
 eight feet high. At a'fmall diftance its leaves ap- 
 pear like thofe of a lemon ; but, when minutely ex- 
 amined, are found to be a vail deal more thin and 
 delicate. When they grow mature^ they by degrees, 
 turn red ; and, becoming withered, fall off. If one 
 of thefe is crufhed, and then rubbed between the hands, 
 it will yield the effencc of the common camphire, 
 when properly prepared. Had the fummer of ninety 
 five been rather more congenial 0 : them, the number 
 of lemon and orange trees, at Burghley, might 
 have produced much fruit ; but, at this period, jufl: 
 pleafed the eye ; and, with a feeble and ineffeftual 
 perfume, faintly tinged the air. 
 
 Of the many plants which are rare and curious, 
 we muft be content to mention a very few, as a 
 general defcription far exceeds our province Among 
 thefe, are the Virginian tulip-tree, which we faw in 
 
 full 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE, 197 
 
 full flower, and moots up into the air a great height ; 
 the Bohea tea tree, which, when we furveyed it, was 
 but imperfectly grown ; the Arbor Vita?, or tree of life ; 
 Pome-granate tree; large American Rhododendron; the 
 American Aloe; Coffee plant; Banana, or Plaintain tree ; 
 the night flowering Ceres, with fomc hundreds, which, 
 though they deiervc, are too tedious, to be told. Here 
 Hervey, perhaps, might have given a greater fcope to 
 his Meditations on a Flower Garden, than he did in 
 that in which he mufed ; and poetry itfelf have culled 
 fame of its beft and choicell flowers. 
 
 Around this r'ch collection of plants, which arc 
 merely portable, at a proper di fiance, as if to protect 
 the Ihrubs below them, from the too rude and profane 
 approach of ftorm and wind, W T e behold, in the fhap'e 
 ©f a circle, feveral very large trees of fir and larch. 
 The fwelling circle, at Burgh ley, is a figure which 
 Mr. Brown very frequently avails himfelf of; and, 
 in general, with great fuccefs ; nor does he ever, like 
 an unikilful midwife, perform the Cacfarean operation 
 upon nature, when he can more obvioufly fet her free. 
 The green -houfe, apparently to refemble the great 
 manfion, to which it is contiguous, is crowned, at the 
 proper diftances, with battlements and towers; and, by 
 the gilt weather cocks, which flame there, exhibits more 
 grandeur than molt edifices of the kind. 
 
 At one end of this theatrical area of plants, we 
 find a fort of winding labyrinth ; but which, if pur- 
 fued, proves a clue to lead us into the adjoining 
 o 3 fhrubbery 
 
! 9 S HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 fhrubbery. The bares, which fcour along the lawns and 
 walks, though injurious to the fhrubs, may be here deemed 
 a beauty ; and, by the fecundity of their race, afford alfo the 
 idea of a retreat, many years longer facredto made and fyl- 
 van fecundity than the new created (h rubbery ofBuRGHLEY 
 really is. Though the author would, by no means, like 
 fome travellers, relate ftrange wonders, he was, one day, 
 furprifcd in one of the walks, by an animal which he 
 conceived of a very uncommon clafs. Finding, that it 
 made no effort to efcape, he was ftill more ftruck ; and, 
 fuppofing it of the noxious kind, endeavoured, by 
 brandiftiing a little mahogany meafure of five feet, 
 which he grafped in his hand, to communicate to it a 
 fmall portion of his own alarm. In doing this, how- 
 ever, it fnapped in twain, and left him nothing to 
 regret but his own nervous fenfibility, and the broken 
 meafure, as the creature very leifurely limped away, to 
 it's covers or mews, into fome of the neighbouring fhrubs . 
 Whatever it really was, it is not unnatural to fuppofe 
 it a Methufalem of the tribe of hares, whom the uncom- 
 mon indulgence, which he found at Burghley, had 
 rendered tame, and even preferved to tafte of the in- 
 firmities of limping old age. 
 
 It is faid that Kent, the predeceflbr of Brown 
 in the art of Gardening, frequently declared he caught 
 his tafte from reading the piclurefque defcriptions of 
 Spenser ; and it is not improbable, that this lafl 
 gentleman alfo derived his from the united affiftances 
 of fuch geniufes as Bacon and Milton, Addison 
 
 and 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 199 
 
 and Pope, who have not only treated, but given examples, 
 of it, in their inimitable compofitions. After perilling 
 what Hentzer has exprefled of Theobalds, a feat of 
 the Lord Treafurer Burleigh's, who is faid to have 
 anticipated all the abfurdities of the Dutch tafte, it is 
 with peculiar pleafure, that we fee her reltored to all 
 her original purity at Burgh ley, the abode of a 
 Nobleman of the fame Family. Though Rap in, a 
 learned Jefuit, of the lall century, produced on this 
 fabjeel, in verfe, what is called Libri quatuor Horto- 
 rum, and his mafter-piece, perhaps the Englim Garden, 
 by Mason, is the moft ingenious didactic poem of 
 the kind. In perufing this, we are convinced how Mr. 
 Brown anticipates his rules, in almoft every part of 
 the pleafure-ground of Burghley. Whoever has 
 been familiar with it, will obferve how ftnkingly exact 
 he feems to mark what the poet calls 
 
 " — The form of that peculiar curve, 
 
 " Alike averfe to crooked and to itraight ; 
 
 " Where fweet fimplicity refides ; which grace 
 
 " And beauty call their own ; whofe lambent flow 
 
 ** Charms us at once with fymmetry and eafe. 
 
 *' 'Tis Nature's curve ; inftinc"lively (he bids 
 
 *• Her tribes of Beings trace it. Down the Hope 
 
 " Of yon fair lawn, fee, with its gradual fweep, &c.'* 
 
 This he has not merely confined to the walks 
 and trees, but transferred to the beautiful piece of wa- 
 ter, which he has taught to flow nearly round it ; to 
 widen, at one place, into a floating lake ; and then, 
 o 4 gradually 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 gradually lefTening its channel, to terminate at laft be- 
 tween contiguous beds of grand and drooping willows. 
 
 To fo much beautiful cultivation and natural art, 
 a critic, not over fnarling, might wilh for fomething of 
 Rock and Wildernefs; and for that kind of contraft, 
 which it is more in the power of the romantic fcenes 
 of Persfield, or of Hawkftone, than thofe of Burghley, 
 to beftow. It is with a view, I imagine, of atoning 
 for this defecl:, that the ingenious projector has endea- 
 voured to bewilder the centre of the floping lawn, 
 with a bold and new plantation of waving trees, as 
 well as a plentiful growth of underwood and flowering 
 flirubs. We fhall, therefore, now conclude our obfer- 
 vations with the jufl encomium, which the ingenious 
 Author of the Englilh Garden has been pleafed topay, 
 after other geniufes, to the taftc of this gentleman. 
 
 se Him too, the living leader of thy pow'rs, 
 " Great Nature! him the Mufe fhall hail in note*, 
 " Which antedate the praife true genius claims 
 " From jufl pofierity : Bards yet unborn 
 * Shall pay to Brown that tribute, fitliefi paid 
 In drains, the beauty of his fcenes iufpire." 
 
 SECT. 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 201 
 
 SECT. XXVIII. 
 
 THOUGH the author of the Hiltqry. 
 af Stamford informs us, upon the authority of Pot- 
 ter, that Cromwell ftormed Burghley House, 
 on July 19th, 1644, yet, when it is confidered how- 
 much favour he {hewed, by leaving it his picture, by 
 Walker, we fhould convert it into the milder appel- 
 lation of a fummons. Had Cromwell conduced him- 
 felf with his accuftomed violence towards it, it would 
 never have been left to the cold phlegm of William 
 the Third to pronounce it's eulogium ; and, on twp 
 fucceflive days, to make it the object of his curiofity* 
 This circumftance, confidering William's great indif- 
 ference to the arts, may be deemed a compliment of 
 great value ; as he mull have found fomething at 
 Burghley, uncommonly interefting, to thaw his na- 
 tive infenfibility, and induce him to repeat his vifit* 
 
 fa 
 
202 HISTORY OF BURGH LEY HOUSE; 
 
 In refpeft of the time, when King William 
 vifited Burgh ley, there is a difference, by ten years, 
 between the account of Mr. Peck, and that of the 
 author of the Hiitory of Stamford ; the former avert- 
 ing it to have been in the year 1695, and the latter 
 in that of 1685 ; but, as King William did not 
 come to the throne of England until 1689, four years after 
 the date of the laft mentioned author, it is evident, 
 that Mr. Peck has hit upon the right period of that 
 event. This monarch, it is faid, being tired with 
 walking about, in the houfe, meeting one of the Earl's 
 fervants, on the flairs, afked him for a horfe to ride 
 about the gardens, but the perfon, flrange as it ap- 
 pears to fay fo, not knowing his Majefty, refufed him. 
 
 According to Mr. Peck, and the writer of the 
 notes to the Hiftory of Stamford, who has copied it, 
 the houfe being much decayed, the body of it was 
 pulled down by the. father of the Earl, who was con- 
 temporary . with Mr. Peck, and the fame materials 
 were employed in building the flables at Burghley. 
 This, from the relemblance of thefe buildings the 
 one to the other, feems by no means improbable ; and 
 the latter, for the ancient plan, upon which they are 
 built, are equally fpacious, elegant, and noble. They 
 are rather in the form of a femi-fejuare, than, like the 
 Duke of Bedford's, at Wooburn, a femi-circle ; and, 
 exclufive of the great manfion, polTcfs, with the other 
 buildings, a cbmpafs of ground, which, when meafured, 
 
 in 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 333 
 
 in the moft accurate manner, by a firing of twenty or, 
 thirty feet, is found to be equal to 334 yards. 1 
 
 When the hill, over which the old road ran, in a 
 ftraight line from the great weftern gate to the houfe, 
 was lowered, there was dug up, not far from it, with- 
 out an infeription, a flone coffin, in which the very 
 bones were reduced to duft. In the Defiderata Guriofa 
 we read, that a fervant, dreaming that his Lord called 
 him, ran to the window, inflead of the door; and^ 
 though he tumbled headlong from the top of the houfe, 
 by efcaping the broad flabs, lying along its fides, fell 
 on the grafs plat unhurt. Though the grave antiquarian 
 who relates this, feems to admit its probability, to di- 
 minifli our aflonifhment a little, he concludes that his 
 dream mull of courfe have been terminated by his fall. 
 
 Mr. Peck obferves, u as Burgh ley, therefore, 
 is fo abundantly flocked, with original 'pictures, nice 
 furniture of all forts, and fuch a variety of other curi- 
 ofities, in every kind, that is rich and coftly; and thofe 
 alfo fo numerous, that, if they were parcelled out, among 
 twenty other great houfes, there would be enough in 
 each to make them all worth going to fee; as more- 
 over the great King William himfelf went twice 
 thither in one and the fame journey," 
 
 *' No wonder then, if Burghley unfurveyed, 
 U Strangers think not the Tour of Britain made." 
 
 This panegyric, notwithflanding it's feeming hyper- 
 bole, is really the effeel: of plain truth ; as, according 
 
 to 
 
504 HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 
 
 to another writer, experienced travellers have affirmed, 
 that they met with nothing either in Italy or France 
 that exceeded them. 
 
 Such are the facls, which his own experience of 
 Burgh ley, and the perufal of it's preceding authors, 
 have enabled the writer of this volume to fet down ; 
 and, though his judgment of fine painting is but too 
 fuperficial, he has endeavoured, by a clear and faithful 
 narration, to do it ftricl juftice. It boalts a grandeur, 
 which dazzles on all fides, unknown to fome palaces ; 
 and novelties and curiofities, which are feldom feen but 
 in fome of the moft felecl cabinets of a mufeum If 
 Burgh let does not find a man a virtuofo, it is 
 enough to make him one ; while the arts and the fciences, 
 which burft upon, and court, him on all fides, muft 
 make the moft accomplished, in regard to intellectual 
 wealth, feel poor. The moll exquifne carved work, in 
 almoft every room, out of the fineft Norway oak, and 
 odoriferous cedar wood, feem to demand, and mult in- 
 deed roufe, the moft ftupid attention. The gilding 
 which is, on all fides, mingled with the carved work, 
 up to the very cornice, a vaft height, throws a luftre 
 the moft brilliant upon every part; while the delighted 
 eye, at a lpfs on what objec*i to fix, ftrays with quick, 
 but uncertain, purfuit, until it is loft in the general 
 magnificence of the whole. 
 
 We muft, however, draw our unfinifhed lucubra- 
 tions to a clofe, with one remark more, that whole 
 months fpent here, will not enable the fpeclator, or 
 - - even 
 
HISTORY OF BURGHLEY HOUSE. 205 
 
 even the finifhed connoifleur, to exhaull all the curi- 
 ofitics of this moil delightful Villa, which we conceive 
 was hardly ever exceeded by the Villas of Tufculum, 
 or any in either ancient or modern time. 
 
 THE END* 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page. 
 
 5th, nth line from the top, for Lord Burghley's, read Lord Burleigh**, 
 6th, 9th line from the top, ditto. 
 21ft, ift line from the top, ditto. 
 
 48th, 5th line from the bottom, for Odyflee, read Odyfey j though 
 Odyflee is ufed. 
 
 8 1 ft, for vine-yard, read vineyard, nth line from the top: and fame 
 page, 3d line from the bottom, for Annibal by Caracchi, read 
 by Annibal Caracchi. 
 97th, for Seel. XI. read Seel. XII. and fo on. 
 109th, 7th line from the bottom, for crowds, read crowd. 
 131ft, 14th line from the top, for would furnifh Hercules, read would 
 
 furnijh an Hercules. 
 157th, 6th line from the bottom, for Lewis, read Loult. 
 177th, 2d line from the top, for the great Treafurer's, read great 
 Treasurer. 
 
 189th, in the quotation, for pendant (hades, read pendent Jhades* 
 
GFTTV CFNTER ! !RW