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From the
COLLECTION OF OXFORD BOOKS
made by
FALCONER MADAN
Bodley's Librarian

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A PICTURESQUE

An iTiNsaARY; AN ACCOUNT OF

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From the
COLLECTION OF OXFORD BOOKS
made by
FALCONER MADAN
Bodley's Librarian

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A
DESCRIPTION OF
BLENHEIM,
THE SEAT OP HIS GRACE
THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH:
Containing a full and accurate Account of the
iiaintinssf, STapeatrp, ants ^Furniture ;
A PICTURESQUE
TOUR OF THE GARDENS AND PARK;
A GENERAL DELINEATION
OF THE
CHINA GALLERY, PRIVATE GARDENS, &c. ;
1 To which are also added,
AN ITINERARY:
AN ACCOUNT OF
THE ROMAN VILLA, NEAR NORTHLEIGH, &c. &c.
WITH A PRELIMINARY
ESSAY ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

- Not the vale

Of Tempe, fam'd in song, nor Ida's grove.
Such beauty boasts.
\Aj c V\" i/fl""* ^ord Lyttelton's Blenheim.

TWELFTH EDITION, IMPROVED ;
Embellished with
AN ELEGANT PLAN OF THE PARK, SIX NEW ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL,
&c. &c

OXFORD:
HENRY SLATTER, HIGH STREET.

ADVERTISEMENT

THE TWELFTH EDITION.

No publications are more entertaining or useful than local
delineations and descriptions, drawn with fidelity and taste :
they enable persons to form a just idea of remarkable places,
to which fortune or situation denies them access ; and without
such aids, occasional spectators, who have not leisure to trace
every beauty for themselves, must inevitably lose half the
pleasure and satisfaction to be derived from their excursions ;
and, at best, carry with them an evanescent impression, and
an imperfect remembrance of what they have seen. Few
places possess more attractions than Blenheim ; and yet few
places have received less justice from the poet or historian.
Wheatley and Gilpin, who had every requisite qualification
to do it justice, have only mentioned it in a cursory manner ;
and Lyttelton and Mansfield lived too near the era of the
first Duke of Marlborough's exploits to describe the place,
farther than might serve as a vehicle for the praise of the

GENERAL INFORMATION.

Blenheim may be seen every afternoon from Two till
Four o'clock, except on Sundays and Public Days. On Fan-
Days at Woodstock, likewise, it can be seen only by parti
cular permission.
Company who arrive at Woodstock in the morning, may
find ample and pleasant employment of their time in taking
the Ride of the Park, the Walk of the Gardens, or in view
ing other objects of attraction, before the hour of admission
to the Palace. A keeper is in constant attendance at the
Lodge Gate.
The China Gallery, Park, and Gardens, will, on proper
application, be shewn at any hour of the day, except during
the time of divine service, on Sundays.

*#* Plans of Blenheim Park, on grand eagle French paper, plain or
Coloured, for framing, may be had where the Description is sold. Price
Is. plain, and 2s. 6d. coloured.
A Translation of the Blenheim Guide, into French, may also be ob
tained where the English Description ig sold.
Blenheim Illustrated, in a series of Twelve Views, just published.

PRELIMINARY ESSAY

LANDSCAPE GARDENING.

Natural taste is the foundation of all picturesque
embellishment. To seize the grand outline with the
mind's eye, to adapt the design to the predominant
features in the landscape, to unfold the beauties of
nature by the masterly touches of art, is the sublime
province ©f the ornamental composer of rural scenery.
That this science has been cultivated with the
greatest success in this country, even jealousy and
national rivalry will not pretend to deny. Foreign
writers, distinguished for their taste, have allowed us
a pre-eminence in landscape and ornamental garden
ing, and that the English were the first who emanci
pated themselves from the trammels of prejudice and
formality, and, recurring to nature, which had long
been banished from the seats of the great, invited her
to her deserted abodes, and gave her a new and more
imposing aspect.
Kent saw the incongruity of artificial design, when
at variance with nature. The straight walk, the

2 PRELIMINARY ESSAY
clipped hedge, the tortured yew, sunk beneath the
superior chastity of his taste. He made, indeed, as
much progress as an innovator, who had a prevailing
bad taste to contend with, could be expected to accom
plish. Perhaps his own was not quite correct. One
age seldom unfolds a new and happy idea, and brings
that idea to perfection. We have had schools of
painting, as well as of ornamental scenery. Some
masters were distinguished for one excellence, and
some for another. The force of genius has at inter
vals prevailed over original disadvantages, and pro
duced works to be admired, though not in every
respect deserving imitation. Reynolds, who will ever
remain the glory of British painters, with, a mind
enlightened by science, and chastised by taste, embo
died the form, and caught the character, which he
transfused into the colouring on the canvass. He
grouped — he combined — he followed nature, and,
therefore, succeeded ; but he had great artists among
his predecessors, who paved the way for the attain
ment of superior excellence.
It was not thus with picturesque embellishment.
The science was comparatively new ; and where
attempts had been formerly made, they were in o-ene-
ral conducted on a wrong principle, or proceeded from
a vitiated taste.
Kent had every obstacle in his way, yet he accom
plished much ; and gratitude is due to him who devi
ates from a wrong path, and aspires to perfection
though he may not be able to reach her temple.

ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 3
To Kent succeeded Brown — a man originally bred
a gardener ;* and from this fortuitous circumstance,
without a particle of his genius, every person now,
who can superintend a kitchen-garden, or handle a
spade, has thought himself qualified to quit his
sphere, and attempt design. But Brown possessed
an originality of conception, a poet's eye, and an
instinctive taste for rural embellishment. He was at
last animated and inspired by some of his own
creations. He saw the deformity of perverted beauty with
keener optics than Kent — he viewed nature with the
enthusiasm of a lover ; and though it cannot be
denied that he sometimes tricked her out in meretri
cious ornaments, and patched her with too refined an
art, he never lost sight of her prominent charms ;
and his worst errors can only be considered as minute
pimples on a beautiful face.t
We have, however, seen this mighty master of
picturesque embellishment severely censured by some
of his own countrymen, who, indulging too much in

* When a youth, Brown had been employed for some years in the
gardens of Kiddington House, in this vicinity. After he acquired cele
brity, he was called in to improve that place, which he did with consi
derable effect. It was observed to him, however, in the prosecution of
this work, that he could never command extensive prospects from the
house. " I will make it," replied he, " so agreeable that no one will
wish to look beyond it."
t Brown, as an ingenious critic observes, made it his maxim to follow
and to copy Nature; whom, if he did not always represent in the
images he set up lo her honour, he, at least, caused to be admired and
adored. B g

4 PRELIMINARY ESSAY
the visions of theory, have denied him the merit of
practical excellence. Because Brown could execute
better than he could describe, and worked by self-
taught rules, he has been attacked with unbecoming
asperity ; and some of his most capital performances
have been ascribed to chance, or to a dereliction of
his own principles.
But who can reduce the infinite variety of situa
tions that ask for improvement to any systematic
principles ? The powerful genius of a place will
imperiously set rules at defiance ; and, in fact, art
can only be the handmaid of nature, whose beauties,
presenting a boundless variety, are alike indignant of
confinement and control.*
The attempt at system is only an effort to bring
us back to what has justly been exploded. " I have
no magical skill in planting roses," says Gray ; and
were this skill easily attainable, the landscape gardener
ought to reject it. Nature disdains the fetters of art.
The best principles can never be universally applicable
to all situations. The painter may invent or reject at
pleasure, and adhere to the rules of his art : the
embellisher of landscape is more confined in his opera
tions ; he cannot always reject— he can only improve.
* Repton's sliding plates, which exhibit a place m its ordinal state,
and, according to his intended imprm, ments, are a novel and excellent
invention. They show, by contrast, what embellishments the situation
is susceptible of, and, in general, indicate a very correct taste in the
designer. To him, however, is opposed Loudon, who, professing to
follow nature alone, sometimes descends to the affectation of nUe -j
minuteness, though his general ideas possess much merit.

ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 5
His invention may cover incidental defects ; but it
cannot always command the excellencies he might
wish. Besides, a flat surface and an extended natural
scene are very different materials to work on, and
will have very different effects when viewed by the
eye of natural taste,* the only just criterion of rural
embellishment. The chef d'oeuvre of Brown was the improvements
at Blenheim, t He had the noblest field to display
his talents on, and he did not labour in vain. But
though he traced the outline with effect, the correct
taste of the noble possessor of this magnificent place,
at that period, enabled him to give it many additional
touches, and to improve its drapery. He has, how
ever, preserved the unity of the design, and only
heightened the colouring. Who, that now visits
these picturesque scenes, can deny but that planta
tions have been applied to all the principal purposes
which M. de Girardin, perhaps copying from his
beloved Ermenonville, conceives ought to be their
grand objects?
* By natural taste is meant that quick perception of the beauties and
deformities of nature which enables a person at once to decide. No
faculty is more rare : it requires the union of a poetic imagination with
a correct judgment.
t It has been said, and probably on good authority, that when Van-
brugh, the architect of Blenheim, was requested to give a design also
for the intended Gardens, he declined the task, by observing " for that
you must go to a landscape painter." This does honour to his taste,
and shows how far he outstripped his contemporaries, who, vitiated by
bad models, would, in general, have been unable to discover that land-
scape painting and gardening are naturally allied in their object, though
the materials are very different with which they work.

6 PRELIMINARY ESSAY
" To form the perspective or side scenes of the
fore-ground, that may best connect the distances with
the principal points of view."
" To raise such elevations or scenes as may give
relief even to an absolute flat."
" To hide all disagreeable objects."
" To give more extent to those that are pleasing,
by concealing their terminations behind a mass of
wood ; by which means the imagination continues
them beyond the point where they are seen."
" To give an agreeable outline to all surfaces,
whether of land or water."
These are the ideas of a master ; and we here see
them realized. They who think justly, in matters
not under the influence of the passions, will generally
come to the same conclusions : hence often coinci
dence without intention.
But while Brown has been too indiscriminately
condemned by some, he has also been too lavishly
praised by others, where he is least defensible. His
formal clumps must in many cases be given up by
his most zealous partizans, or receive a degree of
connexion by intermediate planting, as has been
done at Blenheim, in order to preserve the uniformity
of the scene. His unvarying circular belts too, where
they are not broken into masses, as we see them
here, and when they serve to exclude the prospect of
the surrounding country, are real defects in pictu
resque beauty. No kind of property is less the
object of envy, or more grateful to the eye, than to

ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 7
take possession of a country in an extensive view : it
contributes to the general beauty, and is equally en
joyed by all, without offence to any. That display of
nature is certainly most magnificent which is bounded
only by the horizon : where scenes, under the imme
diate view, present the most captivating charms, and
where the distance harmonizes with the fore-ground.
Such is the prevailing character of Blenheim. But
let us not degrade it into a mere object to please the
eye of taste, however refined. It presents views to
interest the heart. To the picturesque landscape
which charms the sight, it superadds the moral land
scape that delights the mind. In its wide extent, it
exhibits accommodations for age, remunerated for
services in youth — it is peopled with happy labourers
it is stocked with cattle — it waves with corn.* These

• Sonnet, on seeing some hundred additional acres in Blenheim
Park converted into tillage : —
Oft o'er this scene, with raptur'd eye, the Muse
Has lov'd to stray, while Fancy's magic glass
In fairy tints has painted ancient views,
And shown, in long array, Fame's fav'rites pass:
Th' illustrious line of names renown'd of old
Imagination wakes — and startles to behold ! —
Here rural beauty fixed her pristine reign,
And lur'd our monarchs to her native seat ;
Here ev'ry spot — the shade, the slope, the plain,
Is sacred ground, and worn by hallow'd feet.
And shall brown Ceres o'er the space preside,
Where kings have ponder'd, and a Chaucer sung ?
Yes, goddess, come ! with thee the gifts abide
That prop the pomp of Slate — that tune the poet's tongue.
1795.

8 PRELIMINARY ESSAY, &C.
not only enliven its most brilliant scenes, but give
them a charm to the heart of sensibility, which no
inanimate or unproductive embellishments can possibly
convey. The splendid seat may indicate the fortune
of the possessor, but it is the state of the cottages
in the vicinity that marks the character of the man.
Every lodge within the limits of a nobleman's or
gentleman's domain multiplies the means of superin
tendence at a very small expense, and is equally bene
ficial to himself and to the community. In fine, we
may say with De Lille,
" Qui fait aimer les champs, fait aimer la vertu."

NEW DESCRIPTION

BLENHEIM.

" Having seen every thing that was curious in Oxford, we proceeded
to Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough. This place is
without comparison superior to any thing I ever beheld. The beau
ties of Windsor Park faded before it, and every other place I had
visited was effaced from my recollection, on viewing its magnifi
cence." — From the Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, commonly
known in this country by the title of the ' Persian Prince,' 1799 — 1803.

The Palace or Castle of Blenheim, whether re
garded in itself as a magnificent pile of architecture,
replete with the choicest works of art, or as taken
with its accompaniments, where the sweetest natural
charms have been improved by cultivated taste, has
long maintained its reputation of being one of the
most splendid objects of attraction in this kingdom,
or, perhaps, in Europe. It stands in the fairest part
of one of the finest counties in England, within half
a mile of the borough of New Woodstock ; distant
about eight miles from the University of Oxford, and
sixty-three from London. The surrounding country,
though presenting none of the bolder features of
nature, is fertile and irriguous, adorned with woods,

10 DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM.
and abounding with seats of the nobility and gentry :*
the air is pure, mild, and salubrious ; and all the
necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life, are
plentiful and choice.
Blenheim was built at the public expense, in the
reign of Queen Anne,' by whom, with the concur
rence of Parliament, which voted half a million t for
its completion, it was conferred, together with the
Honour of Woodstock, on the most illustrious John,
Duke of Marlborough, as a testimony of royal favour
and national gratitude for his transcendent services,
and the many signal victories he had gained over the

• Blenheim Palace; Ditchley, the seat of Lord Visconnt Dillon;
Heythrop, the property of the Earl of Shrewsbury; and CornburyPark1,
adjoining to Wychwood Forest, the delightful seat of Lord Churchill —
form a chain of parks, within a moderate distance, each possessing its
peculiar and appropriate beauties ; though the first stands unrivalled for
grandeur and extent, for natural charms, and for elegant embellishment.
t Though Parliament was apparently so liberal, immense sums have
been expended by the family on this noble structure and its accompani
ments, to bring it to its present state. The Triumphal Gate, the Pillar,
and the Grand Bridge, were wholly built at their private expense. The
improvements of the park and gardens, and the expansion of the water
within the last fifty years, have cost little less than £200,000.

> Cornbnry Park may be considered as classic ground, being the well-
known residence of Edward Earl of Clarendon, by whom the house was
greatly improved, and received the .till existing inscription running
along the principal front, " Dens nobis haac otia fecit," in compliment
to Charles II. The Chapel, with fine carved work by Grinlin Gibbons
is ono of the most beautiful i„ the kingdom. The house has recently
been modernized, under the direction of Mr. Hnkewill; and, with its
accompaniments, now forms a vciy appropriate and desirable abode for
:.nv nobleman.

any nobleman.

DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM. 11
French and Bavarians, particularly that near the
village of Blenheim, on the banks of the Danube,
from which place this noble palace receives its name.
This victory being achieved on the second day of
August, 1704, it was enacted, " That on the same
day of every year, for ever, the inheritors of his
Grace's honours and titles should render at Windsor
to her Majesty, her heirs, and successors, one standard
or colours, with three jleurs-de-lis painted thereon,
as an acquittance for all manner of rents, suits, and
services due to the Crown." The terms of this tenure
are punctually observed ; and, in consequence, a long
series of flags is exhibited at Windsor Castle.
The architect of Blenheim was Sir John Vanbrugh,
who, though he has been censured, with some show
of reason, for the general heaviness of his designs,
and his deviation from the purer models of Greece
and Rome, must at least stand acquitted in this
instance, when it is considered that strength and
durability were principal objects to be regarded, in a
pile intended to remain a monument of British valour
and British generosity, till the latest periods of time- -
Till time's remotest stage design'd to prove
A Churchill's valour, and a nation's love.*
Accordingly, we find both the plan and the execu
tion excellently adapted to answer those momentous

* The verses interspersed, where not otherwise acknowledged, are
generally taken from " Blenheim," a poem, by the author of this
Description, first published in 1787.

1<2 DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM.
purposes ; and while the more modern and fanciful
fabrics are only the boast of an age, Blenheim seems
calculated to stand uninjured by the lapse of years,
and to excite the admiration of foreigners, as well as
of natives, in proportion as it is better known.
But Vanbrugh does not stand in need of the poor
compliment of an apology for his design— he de
serves very considerable applause for his judgment,
in a circumstance which has principally exposed him
to the censure of pretended critics : he has rendered
this structure characteristic and expressive of its des
tination. Its massy grandeur, its spacious portals,
and its lofty towers, recal the ideas of defence and
security ; with these we naturally associate the hero
for whom it was erected, and thus find it emblematic
of his talents and pursuits.*

* When this Description was first published, the strictures on Van-
brugh's architecture had been so long and so often bandied about, by
unreflecting prejudice, that the author was fearful to bestow even an
adequate eulogium on this noble pile. He has not the vanity to think
that he has been able to give a turn to the public opinion in this respect;
but he certainly has the pleasure to find that several writers, of indis
putable taste, since that period, have stepped forward in vindication of
his general sentiments, and have e\en far exceeded his moderate com
mendation. But the age of Blenheim has exceeded a century; and the
reign of error, or of prejudice, is seldom of longer duration !
It has been justly observed, however, that from the great extent of
the wings, the centre appears too low, or wanting relief; and no one
will attempt to defend the punning statues of lions tearing cocks. These
last might be removed without the least injury to the pile, whose real
beauties, though not wholly rcduoibleto the strict orders of architecture
must ever irresistibly please the most fastidious taste, when viewed in
connexion with the design of its erection.

DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM.

13

From Woodstock, the usual approach, we enter
the park through a
GRAND TRIUMPHAL ARCH,

Or spacious portal, of the Corinthian order, raised to
the memory of John, Duke of Marlborough, by Sarah,
his Duchess ; and charged with the following inscrip
tion, on the side next Woodstock : —
PORTA HAEC EXTRVCTA EST ANNO POST OE1TVM
1LLV5TRISSIMI
JOIIANNIS DVCIS DE MARLEOROVGH JVSSV ATQVE
AVSPICIIS
SARAE CONJVGIS DILECTISSIMAE CVI TESTAMENTO
COMMESBAVIT OPERA
QVIBVS VLTIMAM IPSE MABVM NOS IMPOSVER AT.
QVANTA FVERINT DVCIS IN REMPVBLICAM MERITA
INGRESSO TIBI
PLVRIBVS DICET COLVI/INA QYAM OPTIMAE
CONJVGIS PIETAS PONI VOLVIT
VT PERENNE ESSET IPSIVS GLORIAE SVAEQUE
DILECTIONIS MONVMENTVM.
A. D. MDCCXXIII.

]4, DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM.
Towards the park is the subsequent translation :—
THIS GATE WAS BVILT THE YEAR AFTER. THE DEATH
OF THE MOST ILLVSTRIOVS
JOHN DVKE OF MARLBOROVGH BY ORDER OF SARAH
HIS MOST BELOVED WIFE
TO WHOM HE LEFT THE hOLE DIRECTION OF THE
MANY THINGS
THAT REMAINED VNFINISHED OF TniS FABRIC.
THK SERVICES OF THIS GREAT MAN TO HIS
COVNTRY THE PILLAR
WILL TELL YOV WHICH THE DVCHESB HAS ERECTED
FOR A LASTING
MONVMENT OF HIS GLORY AND HER AFFECTION
TO HIM.
MDCCXXIIL
On advancing within this gate, one of the most
enchanting prospects in nature discloses itself to our
view.* The Palace appears in front, the towers of
which rise into the horizon ; on the left, the Rectory
and Woodstock Tower ; on the right, a broad and
deep valley, through which flows a river of equal
extent, with bold and winding shores, at a propor
tionate distance intersected, but visibly not terminated,
by a Bridge of corresponding magnificence to the
grandeur of the scene ; a swelling lawn, crowned
with a superb and lofty column, which leaves the
tallest trees that seem crowding round its base at an
immense distance below ; while light clumps, shady
groves, and plantations of different shapes and hues,
* When George III. with his Queen and the three elder Princesses,
first entered this gate, he was so struck with the magnificence of the'
view, as to exclaim, " We have nothing equal to this :" and he spoke
correctly.

DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM. 15
skirt the bounding dales, or clothe the remoter slopes ;
a second Reach of Water, beyond the bridge, fringed
by deep woods that rise to the very summit of the
opposite hill, and compose a variously-tinted and
indented surface of luxuriant foliage — all these form
an assemblage of attractions unrivalled, and conspire
to strike the eye of taste with an irresistible charm.
In this singularly picturesque landscape, the beautiful
and the sublime are most intimately combined ; all
that can please, elevate, or astonish, display them
selves at once ; and the mind is at a loss to know to
what source it is chiefly indebted for its pleasure, or
rather what is the predominant character of the
objects that arrest its attention.
At a small distance from this portal, towards the
right is the Centrum Phonicum, or Speaker's Place,
of a very remarkable polysyllabical articulate echo ;*
which, according to Dr. Plott, in his Natural History
of Oxfordshire, will distinctly repeat seventeen sylla
bles in a calm day, and in the night, twenty : but
the demolition of the ancient palace, which stood on
the brow of the opposite hill, the extension of the
river, or these effects combined, have, in a great
measure, diminished its surprising powers. How
ever, a very superior echo may still be heard by a
speaker stationed near an old cedar of Lebanon,

* Echoes, the playthings of former philosophists, seem to have been
favourite objects with Plott. And as this is one of which he appears
to have been particularly enamoured, it would have argued fastidious
ness or neglect to be wholly silent in its praise.

1() DESCRIPTION OF BLENHEIM.
between Rosamond's Well and the bridge ; and it is
nothing unusual for those who are acquainted with
this circumstance to compliment the vocal nymph
with a friendly salutation, which is speedily returned
with amazing exactness of articulation, and reiterated
according to the stillness of the surrounding scene.
Musical sounds have a delightful effect on this spot,
and I have heard the vocal nymph complimented
with a song in her own praise, in which she did not,
through false delicacy, disdain to join.
A broad gravel road, preserving one uniform
direction for nearly half a mile, and gradually diverg
ing from the sweep of the river, to which there is a
bold descent, conducts us towards the eastern gate of
the Palace. This road is almost wholly open. On
the Woodstock side only a few small rising clumps
appear, which assist to conceal the boundary from
other points of view, and to break the line of the
buildings ; a few trees, fancifully disposed, skirt the
slope, and others of a larger growth range with the
stream on its very edge, and afford some pretty
glades into the water, between their trunks and
boughs ; but their heads scarcely rising above the
level of the walk, they serve rather to vary than to
conceal. In front of the Home Lodge, which stands
on the left, appears that elegant structure, the China
Gallery, which will he separately described in the

sotiuci

As wo advance, the prospects diversify ; the fine
rural scenes in the northern part of the Park become

THE THEATRE. 17
more and more conspicuous ; and to the north-west,
the eye takes in an ample field of cheerful objects,
over a wide extent of champaign and woodland coun
try, to the extremity of Wychwood Forest, which is
finely contrasted with the deep umbrage that over
hangs the lake, and intercepts the view. This road,
which is only lateral and circuitous to avoid the stiff
ness of a direct approach, at last falls into another,
denominated the mall ; which, beginning at the noble
entrance on the south of Woodstock, called Hensing-
ton Gate, is lined by double rows of stately trees, and
forms a beautiful and spacious vista to the Palace.
By the Eastern Gate of the Palace, over which is
a reservoir capable of containing five hundred hogs
heads of water,* we enter an arcaded quadrangle ;
on the right, consisting of offices ; on the left, chiefly
occupied by
THE THEATRE,
Which is fitted up in a style of peculiar elegance.
The stage is large, and is furnished with proper
changes of scenery, by Rooker. The seats for the
audience are easy and commodious, and capable of

* This water, which supplies the house, is raised by an engine on
Aldersea's construction, erected in Old Woodstock mill. The water
which serves the greatest part of Woodstock is thrown up by another
engine in an appropriate building within the park, in the same vicinity.
It would be very easy to render either of these available, both to Blen
heim and to Woodstock, in case of one of them being out of repair,
which is not an unusual circumstance, and, therefore, should be pro
vided for. C

18 THE BRIDGE
accomm

odating two hundred persons, without includ
ing the side boxes. The whole has a grand and a
pleasing effect, and is open to the inspection of those
who desire it, though it has not been used for dramatic
representations for a considerable number of years.
It includes the principal part of the original Green
House, out of which it was formed in 1787, and was
first opened on Friday, the 19th of October, in that
year with the comedy of False Delicacy, and Who's
th- Dliprt
From this quadrangle we proceed to the area,
where the North Front, with its semicircular sweep,
opens to the view ; a noble piece of architecture, in a
mixed original style, three hundred and forty-eight
feet from wing to wing, and highly ornamented, par
ticularly in the centre, which stands on Corinthian
pillars of vast magnitude.
This is the grand approach ; and to it we are pro
perly conducted over the valley, through which the
river winds, by a magnificent Bridge,* which has

* In this Bridge are various apartments, some with fire places, which
have never been fitted up, though for summer retreats they would be
extremely pleasant. On the side next Blenheim they are inaccessible,
since the expansion of the lake. In some of these dark and unexplored
recesses it is not improbable that one or more species of the swallow
tribe find a winter retreat, and lie in a torpid state till the return of
spring. This is certain, that they have been noticed skimming the lake
as early as any have bceu discovered on the sea coasts. One season a
whit,: swallow was seen for a considerable time. This lususnaturce has
been occasionally observed in other places.

THE COLUMN. 19
been frequently compared to the Rialto at Venice,
though without any just parallel of application. The
diameter, of its centre arch is an hundred and one
feet: Through which the Danube might collected pour
His spacious urn.'
The effect. of this Bridge, which unites two hills,
and: gives an uniformity and consistency to the scene,
that would otherwise be disjointed and complex, is
peculiarly grand ; and its application one of the hap
piest efforts of judgment. Beyond it, on a consider
able eminence, in the midst of a fine lawn, is a stately
column or pillar, one hundred and thirty feet high, on
the top of which stands a colossal statue of the im
mortal John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough,
like a guardian god sublime,

 And awes the subject plain.
Every circumstance that enters into the composition
of the scene unites to promote one vast and beautiful
effect. The North Front itself is of such magni
ficence as to diffuse a lustre on surrounding objects ;
the accompaniments are well adapted to reflect it back
on the building': a fine expanse of water stretches its
arms around, as if proud to embrace it ;' approaches
in a variety of directions, spreads its animating spirit
over the whole, and connects together the widely ex
tended and extremely diversified parts of the brilliant
landscape.
c 2

-" the south front.
The South Front, though less extensive than the
north, is highly elegant, and constructed in the purest
style of architecture. It commands a calm scene, a
view 1 1 i:it, without surprising, no repetition can render
iuditVerent : the eye rests on it with complacency, and
returns to it with delight. The fore-ground is a fine
lawn, frequently covered with sheep, and enlivened
with flocks of pheasants, so tame as to follow their
feeder : the pleasure grounds succeed ; behind is a
beautiful perspective of the romantic village of
Bladon, with its neat, unobtrusive church tower, just
peeping through tufted trees ; and still farther, a
prospect of the distant hills, which, breaking one
before another, exhibit a succession of chains, till the
last, a continuation of the Chiltern range, or the
White Horse hills, in Berkshire, gradually dissolves
in the almost boundless horizon, on the south-west.
Over the portico, which does credit to the Corinthian
order, stands a colossal bust of Louis XIV. of France,
taken from the gates of Tournay.
A glorious trophy to the Victor's fame,
A lasting record of the Gallic shame.
It is adorned with proper military emblems, and
under it is the subsequent inscription, running along
the pediment :
EI'KUI'T; ll.KC VIM>F\ GKNIO 1)K IIH \ VI. TV BRITANNO.*

* Though this inscription has but one obvious, and can have but one
consistent meaning, it has, neverUieless, been tortured into various; and
the sentence without a verb has been the alternate stumbling-block of

THE OBSERVATORY. 21
Which may be rendered, " The liberator of Europe
dedicates these lofty honours to the genius of Bri
tain." Near the eastern angle, a commodious and elegant
Observatory was erected by the third Duke, amply
furnished with the best astronomical apparatus, by
the justly celebrated Ramsden. A grand telescope,
by Herschel, presented to the Duke by his Majesty,
soon after the royal visit to Blenheim, in. 1786, and
now in the library, may be reckoned a very valuable
appendage to an establishment of this kind.
From the accurate observations made by Major
Mudge, in his measurement of an arc of the meridian,
which was carried on during the years of 1800, 1,
and % it appears that Blenheim is situated in
51° 50' 27" .9 north latitude, 1* 15* 15" west longi
tude.

The apartments of this Palace are furnished with
princely magnificence : the tapestry and paintings
attract universal and deserved attention. The latter
are nearly unrivalled for their beauty and value ; and
since the recent addition of all the most capital pieces
from Marlborough House, unquestionably form the
finest collection in this kingdom. In it, indeed, we
real ignorance and false criticism; no authorities can avail the former;
the latter may be convinced of its propriety by referring to
Mneas heec de Danais victoribus arma.
A0HNAIOI AIIO MHAQN KAI OHBAIQN.
and to other instances of a similar mode of expression, from sources of
unquestionable purity,

-^ the hall.
find some exquisite specimens in almost all the differ
ent schools' of painting ; and it is particularly rich
in the esteemed productions of Rubens and Vandyck,
and of that glory of English painters, Reynolds.
But, as it is impossible to do adequate justice to the
subject in any general description, we shall conduct
our readers through the grand suite of rooms usually
open to public inspection, in the order in which they
are shown, and enumerate the most celebrated pro
ductions of art in each.

Here Painting shows the wonders of her art,
Gains on the sense, and captivates the heart ;
From mimic pencils new creations rise,
Start into life, and wear its native dyes ;
Bold as the form Prometheus taught to more,
When heaven's dread lightning he withdrew from Jove.
Here Brussels' looms their boasted skill display,
And tapestry armies stand in long array.
The vivid tints with war's dread horrors burn :
Here, Grief and Shame — there, Rage and Fun turn ;
The lengthen'd march — the ramparts rise to sight,
And all the kindling glories of the fight.
Hail, ye great artists, whose enchanting skill
Can mould the passions, and control the will :
Not to the eye your labours are address'd —
They boast an influence o'er the ductile breast ;
For while, entrane'd, each happy touch we view,
The moral sense becomes reform'd by you :
Beauty and order, harmony and ease,
Unite to polish, as they tend to please!

* These schools are usually known as the Roman, Venetian, Bologn-
ese, Milanese, Lombard, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Flemish,
and English .

THE HALL. 23
I.— HALL.
Through a superb portico, on massy Corinthian
columns, of elegance and dimensions almost unri
valled, we enter the Hall, a noble and finely pro
portioned apartment, which lies in the centre of the
north, or grand front : this is also supported by
fluted Corinthian pillars. The ceiling, which is the
height of the building, or sixty-seven feet, is painted
by Sir James Thornhill, and allegorically represents
Victory, with proper accompaniments, crowning John
Duke of Marlborough, as she points to a plan of the
battle of Blenheim. The Duke is depicted in a blue
Roman dress. Over the noble marble door-case that
communicates with the Saloon, is a bust of the. same
hero, with this inscription :—
ECCE VIRUM STABILES GUI GENS AUGUSTA PENATES
CUI FRACTAS TANDEM GALLIA DEBET OPES.
HIC VETEREM ANGLIACjE VIRTUTI INSTAURAT HONOREM
SEU RES CON9ILIO, SEU SIT AGENDA MANU.
NON ANIMO AUGUSTUS MELIOR NON JULIUS ARMIS
SEU MULCET GENTES> ILLE VEL ILLE DOMAT.
BEHOLD THE MAN TO DISTANT NATIONS KNOWN,
WHO SHOOK THE GALLIC, FIX'd THE AUSTRIAN THRONE.
NEW LUSTRE TO BRITANNIA'S GLORY GAVE;
IN COUNCILS PRUDENT, AS IN ACTION BRAVE.
NOT JULIUS MORE IN ARMS DISTINGUISH' D SHIN'd,
NOR COULD AUGUSTUS BETTER CALM MANKIND.
In the gallery above, on the same side, may be
seen whole-length portraits of Clara Eugenia, Infanta
of Spain, and Governess of the Netherlands; of
Queen Anne, by Lely, and of a Lady in a blue dress,
by an unknown master. A large collection of family

'«.' 1' THE HALL.
portraits, not usually shown, occupy the same gallery,
which runs the whole extent of the house. Below,
in niches near the angles, are the Medicean Venus,
and the Dancing Fawn, in bronze, from the originals
in the (irand Duke of Tuscany^ collection; and
executed with inimitable skill, by Maximilian Soldani
Benzi, at Florence, in 171 1.
The arcades on the right and left are adorned with
marble termini. Below, on a black marble slab,
stands a fine antique Diana and Dog, universally ad
mired ; and exactly opposite, on a similar slab, is a
beautiful Vase, with figures in relievo, from the an
tique, supposed to represent the nuptial ceremonies
of the Romans.
Over the grand staircase is a large picture, by
Hudson, of Charles, Duke of Marlborough, and Fa
mily ; and beyond the arcades, on the other side of
the hall, the first Duke and Family are delineated by
the pencil of Closterman.
On the right side of the Hall, and connected with
a magnificent gilt vane in the external centre, which
gives apparent elevation to this part of the building,
is a wind-dial. On the opposite side, in shape and
size corresponding to the dial, is an elegant new
clock, by Des Granges, recently placed there by the
present Duke of Marlborough. Both are useful and
pleasing appendages.
From the Hall, we enter a long gallery, on the
right of which, near the entrance, is the Waiting
Room, formerly the Billiard Room and small Library,
and, of course, not now open to the public. It may

BOW-WINDOW ROOM. 25
not, however, be improper to notice that it contains
the following pictures : —
Gipsies with a Soldier .... Valentino.
Dutch Sea Port ..... Uncertain.
Over the chimney-piece, of massy white marble :—
A capital whole-length picture of Louis XI V. in an easy sitting posture,
and graspiug his sceptre .... Mignard.
View of Antwerp ..... Minderhout.
The Marriage in Cana of Galilee . . Paul Veronese.
II  BOW- WINDOW ROOM.
By the gallery already mentioned, we are con
ducted to the Bow-window Room. The famous
battle of Blenheim is portrayed in the tapestry on
the right, at entrance, and occupies a considerable
space. The principal action is confined to the taking
of Marshal Tallard. The battle of Wynendael is
represented in the tapestry on the left. In this room
is a fine bust, called the Laughing Girl, and another,
by Bacon, of Antonina, only daughter of Francis,
Lord Le Despencer. The pictures are : —
Over the first door : —
St. Jerome studying, very fine . . . Giorgioni.
Over the chimney : —
Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I. . Vandyck.
On a panel to the right : —
A fine Head, after Han. Caracci . . Sir Joshua Reynolds.
A Head of Lady Anne Churchill . Sir Godfrey Kneller.
A small picture of The Assumption . Tintoret.

'-'' BOW-WINDOW ROOM.
A I, mule ll.ad Rubens.
A M.1.I..1,,, v and Child Leonardo da Vinci.
Over the second door : —
Two Wood Nymphs and :i Satyr . . Uncertain Master.
Between two beautiful fluted Corinthian pillars : —
A Holy Family, nm.il I . . Ludotico Caracci.
Three pendent (aljunti, with miniature Paintings inclosed.
On the next panel : —
A beautiful etching of a Wood Nymph, by the Princess Royal; given
to r.iniline, Duchess of Marlborough, by her Royal Highness the late
Queen Dowager of Wirtemburg.
\ u allegorical original drawing, by Cipriani, intended as a frontispiece
to the second volume of the Gemma JIarlburienses. ,
Between the opposite pillars : —
Our Saviour and the Virgin in the Clouds, with accompaniments Tintoretto.
A brilliant Collection, inclosed in one general frame, covered with glass,
of twenty-three Miniatures, of different magnitudes, by various Mas
ters ; among which are three of the beautiful and unfortunate Mary,
Queen of Scots.
On the next panel : —
An etching, by the late Queen Dowager of Wirtemburg.
An original drawing, by Ciiniani — the frontispiece to the first volume of
the Gemma: Marlburienscs — the subject from Pliny's Natural History.
Over the third door : —
A Holy Family, in the finest style Raphael.
The ceiling is painted in a novel style of simple
elegance, and adorned witli military emblems, by
llakewill. The window curtains and furniture are
blue silk damask. Under the mirrors that adorn the

DUKE'S STUDY. 27
panels between the windows are two marble slabs.
At the other end of the room are two elegant Cabi
nets ; also, Congreve's patent clock, with extreme
detached escapement, and another handsome clock.
Beyond this room is a suite of elegant but private
apartments, opening to the colonnade on the eastward
of the Grand Front. One of these apartments is
thickly hung round with a large collection of Cabinet
Pictures, chiefly by Teniers, of inestimable value ;
but being more calculated for minute examination
than for general effect, are not open to the public eye.
Ill  DUKE'S STUDY.*
The hangings of this apartment are straw-coloured
painted paper, with a plain border.
The paintings, beginning opposite the entrance
from the Bow-window Room, are : —

I.— 1

A Sleeping Venus and Satyr, with

attending

Cupids, from the School of

Rubens.

Time clipping Cupid's Wings
Vandyck.
Madonna and Child, large
Vandyck.
St. John reading the Apocalypse
Unknown.
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough
.
Kneller.
St. Sebastian
Titian.
* The Roman numerals I. II. III. refer to the three sides of the
apartment, beginning, in each instance, at the side facing the usual en
trance : the fourth, and in the grand cabinet the third likewise, is occu
pied by the windows and the mirrors. The Arabic characters 1, 2,
express the upper and lower rows of pictures on the same side. When
the arrangement would not suffer this easy mode of distinction and
recollection, the figures are omitted.
28

EAST DRAWING ROOM.

2. Inside View of a Church
A Battle, in silver.
II.— 1. A Holy I'nmily
A Landscape
A Holy Family, supposed by
•I. A Battle Piece
A Spanish Seaport
The Children of Israel passing through the
Red Sea
A Holy Family
111 — 1. Virgin and Child
Scene in Switzerland
Another King William on Horseback, small.
Venus and Adonis, from the School of Rubens
2. The Offering of the Magi
Destruction of Pharaoh and his Host, in the
Red Sea .....
Orpheus playing to the Beasts
A Landscape, very fine
The Virgin and Child
In this room is a valuable collection of

Neefs.
Raphael.
Francis Mola.
Raphael.

Weenix.
Old Franck.
Unknown. Solimene.
Van Tempest.
Van Tempest.
Uncertain.
Carlo Dolce.
Old Franck.
Unknown. Claude.
Correggio.
bronzes.

IV.— EAST DRAWING ROOM.
The hangings and furniture, crimson flock paper,
resembling cloth ; the ceiling, a slight plain dome, of
an oval shape ; the chimney-piece is composed of the
richest veined marble. Many of the paintings are
extremely fine.
Beginning from the door opposite the entrance : —

-1. A View in Venice ....
Two Female Heads
Mary, Duchess of Richmond, half-length .
Mary, Duchess of Richmond, with a female
dwarf presenting her gloves
A Bacchanalian Piece

Canalelti.
Paul Veronese.Vandyck. Vandyck. Rubens.

GRAND CABINET.
2. Our Saviour
St. John .
Prince Eugene, supposed by
An Angel, small size
Cattle and Figures
A Circular Landscape
A Man's Head
Lady Ann Churchill
A Man's Head ....
Four small Landscapes, with Figures, very
fine .....
II — 1. Lord Holland ....
The Duchess of Buckingham and Family .
Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
2. A Fete Champetre
Lady Chesterfield
A Landscape ....
The Circumcision ....
Cattle, in various attitudes
A Landscape
King William III. ....
HE — 1. The Rape of Proserpine, very fine, and of
large dimensions
A View in Venice
2. A Holy Family
A View in Venice
A View in Venice

29
Carlo Dolce.
The same.
Kneller.
Correggio.
Bamboccio. Claude. Titian.
Kneller.
Holbein.
Tillemans. Myttens.
Vandyck. Vandyck. Pater.
Vandyck.
Paul Brylle.
Rembrandt.
Rosa di Tivoli.
Gaspard Poussin .
Kneller.

Rubens.
Canaletti. Canaletti. F. Mola.
Canaletti.

V.— GRAND CABINET.
This magnificent apartment opens to the east and
south, and commands the most charming natural
scenery. The hangings and furniture are rich crim
son damask, with gilding of corresponding splendour :
the cornice, in particular, is extremely elegant ; and
in the centre of the ceiling is a large circular gilt
plume. The chimney-piece is composed of dark-

itt) LITTLE DRAWING ROOM.
coloured marble, inlaid with white, in ornamental
festoons, with an urn, projecting in relievo, which
has a fine ellect : over it are a time-piece, some bronze
figures, and two very curious jars.
Tin; paintings are some of the most superb in any
collection, particularly those of Rubens, of whose
works there is an unrivalled assemblage in Blenheim.
I. — 1. Lot's Departure ont of Sodom ; a present from the
town of Antwerp . Rubens.
The Return of our Saviour from Egypt . The same.
Filial Affection exemplified in the Roman Daughter The same.
2. Portrait of Paracelsus . The same.
A Madonna, her head encircled with stars, supposed
the .Miraculous Conception, in the finest style —
the extended hand is inimitable — the tints are
those of life itself . Carlo Dolce.
Raphael's favourite Dorothea Raphael-
Head of Rubens .... Rubens.
Pope Gregory, and a Female Penitent bearing a
palm branch . Titian.
A Holy Family . . Ludorico Caracci.
II. — 1. The offering of the Magi . Rubens.
A Madonna standing on a Globe, surrounded by
Angels Carlo Maratti.
A Holy Family Rubens.
2. A most capital and sweetly. composed picture of our
Saviour blessing the Children Rubens.
 Mark that mild angelic air —
The rapture of repose that's there!
Virgin and Child . . Rubens.
The late Lord Robert Spencer, when a Boy Sir J. Reynolds.
VI.— LITTLE DRAWING ROOM.
The hangings are deep crimson cloth, with orna
mental gilt borders : the furniture corresponding.

LITTLE DRAWING ROOM. 31
The head in the centre of the chimney is a delicate
piece of sculpture ; the whole is exquisitely finished
in white marble. In this room are two curious cabi
nets, a beautiful marble slab, and a time-piece.
Beginning opposite the entrance from the Grand
Cabinet, the paintings are : —
I. — 1. The Woman taken in Adultery . . Rembrandt.
The Rape of the Sabines, very large and expressive Pietro da Cortona.
2. A small highly-finished family-piece . Gonzales.
A Landscape . D. Teniers.
A Landscape . . . Guspard Poussin.
An Old Woman at her Spinning-wheel, and her
Husband warming himself . . Teniers.
A Dutch Family . Ostade.
II. — 1. Catharine of Medicis, in colours, almost inimitable Rubens.
Esther and Ahasuerus . . . Paul Veronese.
Wife of Rubens, Eleanor Forman, in the costume
of an Archduchess . . . Rubens.
2. Our Saviour and the Virgin in the Clouds, with a
Monk paying Adoration . Hannibal Caracci.
Two small Landscapes and Figures Ferg.
A beautiful little Landscape, with Figures . Wouvermans.
A Landscape . . Eglon Vanderneer.
Monkeys, in Monks' Habits . . Teniers.
A small Landscape . . Vanderneer.
A Landscape, small size . . . Ruysdaal.
Boors playing at Cards . . . Teniers.
Travellers refreshing at an Ale-house Door, with a
ViewofDort . . . Cuyp.
Curiosity Detected .... Sharpe.
Over the fire-place : —
III. — 1. A most capital picture of the Virgin and Child, St.
John and St. Nicholas, formerly belonging to the
Capella degli Ansidei, at Perrugia . Raphael.

J2 GREAT DRAWING ROOM,
And over it an oval, in chiar* oscuro, from an ancient
gem . . Rebecca.
Two Views in Blenheim Park . Hofland.
Over the door : —
I sane blessing Jacob . . Rembrandt.
VII.— GREAT DRAWING ROOM.
The auleum or hangings, a deep crimson cloth, of
the same fabric as in the last apartment, and peculi
arly adapted for setting off paintings to advantage.
The paintings, commencing from the door facing
the entrance from the Little Drawing Room, are : —
I. — 1. Portraits of Mrs. Morton and Mrs. Killigxew,two of
Charles the Second's favourites, in one picture Sir Peter Lely.
King Charles I. on Horseback, his casque or helmet
supported by Sir Thomas Morton— size of life ;
the chef d'a-uvre of . Vandyck.
H— 1. Three Beggar Boys, very expressive . Murilla.
Andromeda chained to the Rock, with Perseus just
appearing . ... Rubens.
Charlesl- • • Vandyck.
Rubens' Wile and Child ; a present to the first
Duke by the City of Brussels Rubens.
Henrietta .Maria, Queen of Charles I. Vandyck.
Philip II. of Spain .... Titian
Two Beggar Boys, very fine Murillo.
2. The Offering of the Kings . . Rubens.
r.corge, fourth Duke of Marlborough, on Horseback Strocklin.
The Virgin and Child . Tr , .
• Vandyck.
A small portrait of George, the fourth Duke of Marlborough
The Death of the Virgin, an exquisite painting Guido

GREAT DRAWING ROOM. 33
A Holy Family, very line . . . Rubens.
The Annunciation . . . Correggio.
Mark Morrell, Esq. .... Macarthy.
III. — 1. A Family Picture of the late Duke, Duchess, and six Children,
namely, Ladies Caroline, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Anne; the
present Duke,* and Lord Henry Spencer. The two youngest,
Lord Churchill and Lady Amelia Boyce, were born since
this very capital picture, which cost seven hundred guineas,
was painted . . . Sir Joshua Reynolds.
In this picture Sir Joshua is supposed to have vied
with Vandyck in his celebrated family piece at Wilton
House, and to have excelled him, as far as grouping
and character are concerned.
A very animated portrait of Lord Strafford and his Secretary,
of which there are two others in this country, all reputed
originals ..... Vandyck.
In the centre of the very elegant chimney-piece,
formed of the richest marbles, is an alto-relievo of

* It may not be improper to introduce here the following notification
from the Gazette :—
Whitehall, May 26th, 1817. — His Royal Highness the Prince Regent
has been pleased, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, to grant
unto the Most Noble George Spencer, Duke of Marlborough, Marquis
of Blandford, Earl of Sunderland and Marlborough, Baron Spencer of
Wornileighton, Baron Churchill of Sandridge, and a Prince of the Holy
Roman Empire, his Majesty's royal licence and authority, that, in order
to perpetuate in his Grace's family a surname to which his illustrious
ancestor, John, the first Duke of Marlborough, by a long series of tran-
scendant and heroic achievements, added such imperishable lustre, he
and his issue may henceforth take and use the surname of Churchill, in
addition to and after that of Spencer, that he and they may bear the
arms of Churchill quarterly, in the first quarter, with the arms of Spen
cer, together with a representation of the bearings on the standard or
colours belonging to the Honour or Manor of Woodstock, &c.
D

34 DINING ROOM%
Cupid and Psyche's Marriage, from the antique. A
notification is engraved in Greek characters, signifying
that Tryphon executed the original. Over this are
two Centaurs, in bronze ; two beautiful urns, of
Derbyshire spar ; and a curious clock, on a bronze
elephant. Under the superb mirrors are large marble
slabs.
VIII.— DINING ROOM.
This apartment is well adapted for its destination,
being large, lofty, and commodiously situated, near
the centre of the palace. The ceiling is richly stuc
coed, and the sides are wainscotted in large panels,
finely painted in imitation of oak. The chimney-
piece is peculiarly handsome : it supports an elegant
clock. Commencing opposite the entrance door from the
Great Drawing Room, are the following paintings : —
I. — 1. The Rape of Europa Paul Veronese.
John, Duke of Bedford . . . Gainsborough.
Lord Churchill Owen.
George, fourth Duke of Marlborough Cosway.
The late Duchess aud Child . Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Lady Charlotte Spencer, in the character of a Gip-
sey, tellinc, her Brother, Lord Henry Spencer,his
fortune • ¦ . The same.
George, the third Duke of .Marlborough . The same.
•2. Dowager Lady Pembroke . . . The same.
Lord Charles Spencer . The same.
The Marquis of Tavistock . . . The same _
II.— 1. Lot and his Daughters, in the finest style; a present
from the Emperor of Germany . Rubens

SALOON. 35
The three Graces, or Rubens' three Wives Rubens.
Venus and Adonis ; another present from the Em
peror of Germany . Rubens.
2. A Battle Piece .... Wouvermans.
Another Battle Piece . . . The same.

III. — 1. A most capital and strikingly-characteristic Baccha
nalian Piece . . Rubens.
Cattle and Figures, in a very capital style Castiglione.
Gertrude, Duchess of Bedford . . Dance.
Lady Amelia Boyce . . Phillips.
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough . . Sir G. Kneller.
Two favourite Dogs . . Bennett.

In this room is a fine marble bust of George, the
fourth Duke of Marlborough, by Prosperi.

IX.— SALOON.
This noble and spacious apartment, which commu
nicates with the Hall, and together with it occupies
the entire breadth of the centre, is highly finished
and richly decorated. It is lined in the lower part
with marble, in the Italian taste ; and its four door
cases are entirely composed of the same beautiful and
durable material. Over the doors, which face the
four quarters, are the arms of the first Duke. AboVe
the marble basement are six compartments, in which
different nations of the world are depicted in their
characteristic dresses and contours, by La Guerre.
These, however, are rather individual caricatures
D %

36 GREEN DRAWING ROOM.
than natural delineations : they are shown in the fol
lowing manner, and said to represent —
I. The Painter— French— English*— and Scotch.
II. Spaniards.
III. Moors and Negroes.
IV. Chinese and Tartars.
V. Turks.
VI. Dutch and Swedes.
The ceiling is the height of the building, and is
executed by the same artist with peculiar felicity,
both in design and performance. It emblematically
represents John, Duke of Marlborough, in the career
of Victory, arrested by the hand of Peace, while
Time reminds him of the rapidity of his own flight.
Over the first chimney stands an antique bust of a
Roman Consul ; and at the same end of the room, a
marble slab, on which lies a finely-sculptured Sleeping
Venus. Over the second chimney is an antique bust of
Caracalla ; and on another marble slab, Cleopatra
and the Asp.
On other marble slabs are bronzes of Fame and
Mercury, mounted on Pegasi.
X.— GREEN DRAWING ROOM.
It is hung with tapestry, representing, in vivid

* The portrait of the Englishman, which possesses much rubicundily
and portliness, is believed to represent Dean Jones, Chaplain to Sarah
Duchess of Marlborough.

GREEN DRAWING ROOM. 37
colours, some of the military exploits of John, Duke
of Marlborough. I. Battle of Dunnewert.
II. The Battle of Lisle, on the right of the chim
ney — Siege of Lisle, on the left. The French Spy
is very expressively delineated.
III. Battle of Malplaquet. The eager attention of
the person receiving orders is admirably depicted.
The paintings, facing the Saloon entrance, are : —
Over the door : —
A very masterly painting of Meleager and Atalanta . Rubens.
On a panel near the window : —
The Offering of the Magi . . Lucca Giordano.
A Holy Family ..... Nicholas Poussin.
Figures, encircled with a Wreath of Flowers . Rothenamer.
On the opposite panel : —
The Adoration of the Shepherds . . Lucca Giordano.
A Madonna and Child .... Nicholas Poussin.
Figures, encircled with a Wreath of Flowers Rothenamer.
Over the door : —
A charming portrait of a young Knight of St. John of Jerusalem Baroccio.
A beautiful and curious clock, on a new construc
tion, by Vulliamy, stands on the chimney-piece. A
serpent bending down its head from the top of a small
urn, round which the hours are arranged, points out
the time with its sting ; and on the same urn, an
elegant figure of Contemplation leaning gives the

38 STATE DRAWING ROOM.
whole a singular, and rather monumental air. On
each side are Boys' Gambols, in bronze.
Above is a highly-finished picture of
Caroline, Duchess of Marlborough, in an elegant white dress Romney.
Under the mirrors are marble slabs, with numerous
china jars, and two urn-shaped chandeliers. On a
superb cabinet is a Lion, beautifully sculptured in
marble. Opposite is another handsome cabinet.
The curtains, sofas, and other furniture, are deep
green damask, of great richness and beauty.
XI— STATE DRAWING ROOM.
This apartment has been, within these few years,
decorated, and furnished with the utmost magnifi
cence. The ceiling is elegant ; the cornice is richly
gilt ; and the border round the room is in a corres
ponding style. The mirrors are almost unrivalled in
the superlative elegance of their frames ; the magni
tude of their plates is likewise very considerable.
The chimney is composed of the purest white
marble : it is adorned with a rich central urn. In
this room are three higlily-finished cabinets. The
marble slabs are proportionate to the splendour of the
rest. The curtains and furniture are white damask.
The tapestry is a continuation of the first Duke's
achievements. I. and II. The March to Bouchain.
II. and III. The Siege of Bouchain. In this piece,
Lord Cadogan's Dog, which attended his master

STATE BED CHAMBER. 39
through the campaigns, and returned safely, makes a
conspicuous figure.
Over the chimney : —
George, third Duke of Marlborough, in his Garter Robes . Romney.
Over the first door, facing the entrance : —
St. Laurence distributing the Ornaments of the Altar II Prete Genoese.
Over the opposite door : —
A Fruit Piece . . . Lucca Giordano.

XII.— STATE BED CHAMBER.
In a palace there must be apartments for pomp, as
well as for utility : this is one of the former, and
very splendid of the kind. The furniture and hang
ings are rich blue damask, interlaced with gold. The
bed-posts are elegantly fluted, and covered with bur
nished gold : their extremities adorned with military
emblems. The top rises into a dome, surmounted
with a ducal coronet ; at the head are the family
arms. The whole designed by Sir Wm. Chambers.
Near the foot of the bed stands a small table, of
exquisite workmanship, which belonged to Marie
Antoinette, late Queen of France.
The chimney-piece is decorated with bronzes of
Hercules killing the Centaurs and the Hydra ; be
tween these is a bust of Diana : over it is
A capital picture, representing Seneca bleeding to death, while, with
philosophic composure, he dictates to his Amanuensis L. Giordano.

40 THE LIBRARY.
On a panel to the right is a fine portrait of
Edward VI. . • Holbein.
A View of Architecture . • Panini.
The Burning of Troy . . • Old Franck.
Over each door : -
A I'icte nl glill Lid- . • • Maltese.
On the slab, under the mirror, is a young Hercules,
recumbent, finely sculptured.
In this room are a beautiful ebony cabinet and a
gold inkstand.
From this stately suite of rooms, where the pro
fusion of splendid objects is apt to dazzle the organs
of sight, the eye is both charmed and relieved on
entering
XIII.— THE LIBRARY.
This very spacious apartment, which occupies the
entire West Front, is upwards of one hundred and
eighty-three feet long, and is thirty-one feet nine
inches wide in the centre.
It is impossible to conceive any thing more superb
than the solid columns of veined marble, which sup
port a rich entablature, the Doric pilasters of the
same, the surrounding basement of black marble, and
the stuccoed compartments of the lofty vaulted ceil
ing, which open a fine field for the pencil of the first
master in the pictorial art.
This noble room was originally intended as a gal
lery for paintings ; but has since been furnished with
the grand Sunderland collection of books, comprising

THE LIBRARY. 41
upwards of seventeen thousand volumes, in various
languages, arts, and sciences ; all arranged in elegant
cases, with gilt wire latticed doors, on the east side,
through its whole extent, and along the two ends.
Few private collections are equal to this in value,
the whole being reckoned worth thirty thousand
pounds ; yet this is not the only Library in the Palace,
nor does it contain more than its proportion of rare
and curious books, though it is the only one open to
public inspection. The Spencer family, indeed, in all
its branches, is distinguished for its literary taste,
and the magnificence and extent of its literary
treasures. At the upper end of the Library stands a highly-
finished white marble statue of Queen Anne, in her
coronation robes, by Rysbrach ; on the pedestal is
this inscription : —
TO THE MEMORY OF QUEEN ANNE !
UNDER WHOSE AUSPICES
JOHN DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH
CONQUERED,
AND TO WHOSE MUNIFICENCE
HE AND HIS POSTERITY
WITH GRATITUDE
OWE THE POSSESSION OF BLENHEIM
A. D. MDCCXXVI.
In a recess on the west side, is an antique statue,
inscribed Julia Domna ; and lower down, another of
Diana and Dog, both on mahogany therms.
At the lower end, is a bust of Alexander the
Great ; a fine specimen of Grecian sculpture, in good

l-'-i THE LIBRARY.
preservation, dug out of the ruins of Herculaueum,
and supported by an elegant modern therm, designed
by Sir William Chambers; and, in a recess to the
left is a line bust of John, the first Duke of Marlbo-
lotigh. On each side of the bow window are antique bronze
busts, also on mahogany therms.
Over the book-cases on the east side are the subse
quent paintings and sculptures.
Lord (jodolphin.
Duke of Montague.
Above the first chimney, a bust of Charles, Earl of
Sunderland, the collector of the books : below this,
A Sea Piece of Jonah and the Whale, after Poussin.
And on the chimney, a bust of the Emperor Adrian.
Countess of Sunderland.
Countess of Bridgewater.
Countess Cowper.
Hon. John Spencer.
Over the grand marble door-case communicating
with the Hall, a bust of Milo Crotonensis.
Elizabeth, Duchess of Marlborough.
Charles, Duke of Marlborough.
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough.
John, Duke of Marlborough.
Over the second chimney : — a Girl's Head, an
tique. A Landscape, after Poussin
Above, a bust of Charles, Duke of Marlborough,
by Rysbrach. Queen Anne.
King Williai'.

THE CHAPEL. 43
From the noble bow-windows on the west, is an
elysian prospect of the beautifully-waving descent to
the lake, and of the pendent groves on the opposite
hill. We here catch a partial glimpse of the Duke's
Private Garden, an ample description of which, from
the pen of Dr. Bowles, of Faringdon Hall, appears in
its proper place. Indeed, every apartment has its
appropriate beauties, both internal and external : the
eye of taste will, recognize many which the brevity of
our plan prevented us from noting ; to the more cur
sory observer this Description will prove a useful
monitor. One striking ornament, however, we have
neglected to remark : the Mahogany Doors through
out this whole suite are splendidly finished, and are
worthy of the apartments to which they conduct.
When open, they form a magnificent vista from the
Library to the Grand Cabinet.
XIV.— CHAPEL.
From the Library, we proceed along a piazza, with
arcades below, to the Chapel, situated in the western
wing of the Palace. The coup d'ceil on entering is
extremely grand, and the impression such as corres
ponds with the place. The style of painting and the
degree of light are both peculiarly happy : the large
compartments of sober grey are finely relieved by the
surrounding white ; and the shade of foliage that
partially darkens the windows, diffuses an air of com
posed solemnity, unmixed with gloom, unaccompanied
with melancholy.

44 THE CHAPEL.
The chief ornament, however, is a stately Monu
ment, in various marble, to the memory of the first
Duke and Duchess, by Rysbrach. They are repre
sented with their two sons, who died young,* as
supported by Fame and History: these are colossal
figures, and being most prominent, are the most
striking in the group. The pen of History seems to
have traced this inscription on a tablet, which she
holds in the other hand : —
TO THE MEMORY
OF JOHN DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH AND
HIS TWO SONS
HIS DITHE" HA^ ERECTED
THIS MONUMENT
IN THE YEAR OF CHRIST MDCCXXX1II.
Beneath is the taking of Marshal Tallard, in basso-
relievo. The altar-piece : —
Our Saviour taken down from the Cross . Jordaens, of Antwerp.
The gallery for the family is splendidly hung with
crimson velvet, fringed with gold. The cushions are
corresponding. Over the chimney : —
A curious painting on black marble . Alkssandro Veronese.

* The eldest son of the great Duke of Marlborough, John, Marquis
of Blandford, died of the small-pox, at Cambridge, in the seventeenth
year of his age ; and lies buried in one of the aisles of King's College
Chapel, where a magnificent altar-tomb is erected to his memory. The
first Duke and Duchess, the Marquis of Blandford of the Godolphin
family-the first Duke and Duchess of the Spencer family, the late
Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, and their eldest daughter, Vis
countess Clifden.are all deposited in the family vault under this Chapel,
lo which there is an approach through the stable court.

TITIAN ROOM. 45
After viewing the Chapel, our conductor takes
his leave of us, and we once more find ourselves
opposite the North Front of the Palace. We then
repass the Theatre and Titian Room, on the right,
and leave this splendid Palace by the gate at which
we entered.

TITIAN ROOM.
This apartment adjoins the Theatre, near the en
trance of the Gardens, and is ornamented with a
superb collection of paintings, by Titian ; a magnifi
cent present from Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia,
to John, Duke of Marlborough.
These capital performances of this celebrated mas
ter, after long lying hidden from public view, are now
liberally displayed, chiefly for the sake of amateurs in
the pictorial art. They consist of the following series,
and are painted on leather : —
I. Mars and Venus.
II. Cupid and Psyche.
III. Apollo and Daphne.
IV. Pluto and Proserpine.
V. Hercules and Dejanira.
VI. Vulcan and Ceres.
VII. Bacchus and Ariadne.
VIII. Jupiter, Juno, and lo.
IX. Neptune and Amphitrite.
These figures, which far exceed the size of nature,
though they are little encumbered with drapery, cover
three sides of the room, and form almost a school of

4G CHINA GALLERY.
themselves. It has been remarked, however, that
Titian is not happy in expressing female beauty,
though he had goddesses to delineate. Indeed, his
taste in design is by no means equal to the spirit of
his execution and the beauty of his colouring, in
which he is almost unrivalled.

CHINA GALLERY.*
This elegant fabric, erected purposely for the recep
tion of the superb collection of porcelain now deposited
here, stands close to the Home Lodge, and is separated
from the Park by iron palisades.
It was fitted up in the year 1796, and presents an
additional attraction to the visitors of Blenheim, who
delight in the antique, rich, and curious specimens of
the porcelain, delf, and japan manufacture.
But it is not the connoisseur only who will be grati
fied by this display ; no eye of taste can fail to receive
satisfaction from the sight of this splendid collection ;
nor will the arrangement pass unregarded by the most
superficial observer.
The gallery, whose external figure represents a
cross, is divided into five compartments.
The two rooms at each end are fitted up in an
octagonal form, and lighted from the top, with the

* This choice collection was formed by Mr. Spalding, a valetudinary
of moderate fortune, during his travels for several years on the Conti
nent, as well as his attendance on sales in this country, and presented
by him, on certain conditions, as an appendant to Blenheim.

CHINA GALLERY. 47
porcelain regularly arranged- on slight pilasters, or
fancifully suspended by brass hooks, against the
walls. The centre room which occupies the trans
verse of the cross, is circular, and has- a light in the
form of a dome in the middle, and a smaller one on
each side. This apartment is particularly magnificent.
Round the walls are ten panels and twelve pilasters,
filled with choice specimens ; and at a proper distance
in the area, are eight pilasters and six open stands,
with a pyramidal pagoda in the centre, supporting
many pieces of singular value or beauty.
The whole gallery may be seen at the first entry ;
and, from the reflected light, the distribution of parts,
and the splendour of the materials, which are here
displayed to the greatest advantage, it may not inaptly
be compared to the fanciful descriptions of enchanted
palaces, in poesy and romance.
This assemblage of ancient porcelain consists of an
immense quantity of both useful and ornamental arti
cles, in every species of that elegant manufacture,
from the earliest ages till the art is said to have been
lost. Some specimens exhibit its infant state, which,
according to the Abbe Raynal, in his History of the
Indies, may be reasonably supposed to be three thou-,
sand years ago. The remote antiquity of these may
be inferred, from the rudeness of the designs and
the imperfect crackled appearance of the baking. It
is long before art can be brought to any degree of
perfection. To glaze and bake in the high style of
many pieces in this collection must have required

48 CHINA GALLERY.
reiterated attempts, and the experience of years 
perhaps of ages.
Among other varieties, are many of the choicest
pieces of the old blue and white, and pale japan
brown edge, so much esteemed by the curious. Like
wise a numerous assortment of those very scarce and
valuable sorts, the antique bleu celeste, and deep
purple. It is impossible, however, to enter into a minute
description of articles so various and extensive ; but
we cannot refrain from particularizing a few, and
enumerating the principal sources from which they
were drawn, by the ingenious and indefatigable col
lector. Among many other pieces deserving attention, are
a pair of small bottles, once the property of Queen
Anne — A large japan tea-pot, a present from Louis
XIV. to the Duke of Richelieu — Two smaller ones,
from the collection of the Duke of Orleans, father to
Egalite — Some pieces from the late Princess Amelia's
cabinet — many from the Portland Museum, and from
the celebrated collection of the Duke d'Aumont, at
Paris — A singular piece from the Duke of Argyle's
curiosities, in a former reign — Several articles from
the late Duchess of Kingston's — from Selima, Count
ess of Huntingdon's — from M. Calonne's — and M.
Beaumarchais' collections. Five ornamental pieces,
presented by a Nabob to a Governor of Bengal, in
the reign of William III. possess uncommon beauty.
A large white tea-pot, once in the possession of Oliver

CHINA GALLERY. 49
Cromwell, will be deemed a curiosity ; and it is not
uninteresting to observe the different forms of the tea
pots in general in this gallery, the metamorphoses
they have undergone, and their variations from the
present prevailing shape. Two pieces of jasper china,
somewhat resembling shells, are remarkably beautiful
and rare, as are several of that scarce sort, called
honeycomb. It should also be observed, that some
specimens are unique in their kind.
A collateral room, adjoining the entrance to the
gallery, is filled with scarce and elegant specimens of
Roman and old earthenware, too numerous to men
tion. A delf jar of the latter kind was evidently
fabricated long before the Dutch threw off the Spanish
yoke, as appears from the dress of the figures. But
one of the most singular curiosities is a small piece,
representing a fish, which was brought from Athens,
and is supposed to be coeval with that celebrated
republic. In this apartment, likewise, is a small select collec
tion of the finest old black and gold wooden japan ;
and a numerous and beautiful assortment of old
copper enamels, of the black and white kind, and also
in various colours, on subjects both sacred and pro
fane, some of them not unworthy of the pencil of
Raphael. These slight notices may suffice to show the value
and extent of this collection. The curious, and real
amateurs, will satisfy themselves as to its peculiar
merits.

50 GARDENS.

GARDENS.*
Stay your rude steps ! whose throbbing breasts enfold
Th' insatiate thirst of glory, or of gold !
For you no Dryad decks her roseate bowers,
For you her sparkling urn no Naiad pours :
Unmark'd by you, light Graces skim the green,
And hovering Cupids spread their wings unseen. Darwin.

The gardens, or pleasure grounds, occupy an area
of three hundred acres and upwards. On part of the
north, and the east side, they are surrounded by a
sunk fence, which, without breaking the grandeur of
the scene, serves to separate the parts that compose
it. On the west side, they make a bold descent to
the lake, which, falling over a rocky barrier of con
siderable height at the south-west angle, formed like
wise the southern boundary, before the more recent

* " The original Gardens at Blenheim, begun in 1704, were finished
in three years, under the superintendence and direction of a Mr. Wise,
who likewise made very considerable improvements at Kensington and
Hampton Court, under the patronageof Queen Anne. The performances
at Blenheim were reckoned the greatest of all his undertakings, and
were, indeed, wonderful for the time, as appears from existing plans
and descriptions, though in a style now justly exploded."
Switzer's Recreations in Gardening, Sfc.
The descendants of Mr. Wise, who was gardener to George I. and,
with his colleague, Mr. London, published the " Retired Gardener " in
2 vols, in 1706, have long been honourably settled in Warwickshire.

" '¦n.v/iji;,,,,-.'' «<¦>¦ ¦a:«jV.'%-1

/.«.•/ I/.-II- „/ /ll.n/,.,,,,
,,..,., .,,; SKAT OF II 11 II 34 ClIsAClH TIHIlK II J II r in K OJK 1MIAIU ILMO IK "." «: HO

FLOWER GARDEN. 51
additions of a considerable portion of the adjoining
vale, and of the face of the opposite hill. Nature,
indeed^ seems to have placed this fine chain, which
describes the figure of a bow on the west and south
of the river, as the only regular termination of the
pleasure grounds, and the line of demarcation between
them and the park; The lofty, umbrageous trees,
which cover its side and brow, form a noble back
ground, and give an unity and finish to the scene.
FLOWER GARDEN.
The usual entrance into the pleasure-grounds is a
little to the left of the eastern gate of Blenheim, the
usual approach. The East Front first salutes the
view — a chaste and elegant piece of architecture, with
a large projecting bow in the centre. Immediately
before it lies the Flower Garden, which occupies about
an acre of a cheerful lawn of a moderate breadth, but
extending a considerable way into the park ; at first
fringed with little clumps of -evergreens* encircled
and interspersed with flowers and deciduous shrubs,
then broken by a few scattered trees, which, rising
on different sides of the sunk fence, effectually conceal
it ; and afterwards lined by stately trees, that throw
a finely-chequered shade on the verdant sward below,
and ranging in if regular pomp, preclude stiffness from
mingling with beauty. '
The Flower Garden, though obviously a very de
lightful and inviting appendage, being so contiguous
e 2

.V2 FLOWLR GARDEN.
and accessible, is only a recent creation in this spot.
On the side next the green-house is a spacious and
elegant alcove, commanding the whole of this elysian
scene, in which a succession of hardy flowers and
shrubs, arranged in twenty oval beds, tastefully dis
posed, and including at least two hundred different
kinds of roses, fill up the seasons with their varied
charms, and offer incense to Flora. From a seat at
the extremity of these parterres, fronting the north,
is a pleasing view of the Triumphal Gate in one
direction, and of the Pillar, which crowns a swelling
lawn, in another. The last is particularly attractive.
See waving woods their aged arms display,
And quivering sunbeams shed a partial day :
Long vistas shooting from the wondering eyes,
And bloom perennial pour unnumbered dyes !
See flower-crown'd Flora spread her lucid train,
And give to Beauty all the smiling plain ;
While sylvan Pan, amid the shady trees,
Joins in the concert with the swelling breeze.
On the lawn, to the right, a small Archery Ground,
thirty-five yards in depth, was formed in the summer
of 1831, and is surrounded with a hedge of box.
A walk of pebbly gravel, of the most beautiful
texture and regularity (which, however, prevails in
the pleasure-grounds, and blends utility with orna
ment), winding to the east, between rising planta
tions and clumps of trees and shrubs in various
shape, at intervals is opened to a highly-embellished
lawn ; and soon taking an easy bend to the south,
conducts to the

TEMPLE OF HEALTH. 53

TEMPLE OF HEALTH,
Charged with the following elegant and loyal inscrip
tion, on a highly-polished marble tablet : —
DEO MAXIMO CONSERVATOR!,
ET PROVlDENTI^E DIVlN^E :
OB RECUPERATAM GEORGII TERTII,
REGIS OPTIMI, PIENTISSIMI SALUTEM,
HOC MARMOR
GEORGIUS DUX MARLBURIENS1S
EXPLETO DESIDERIO, VOTKJUE COMPOS,
IN ALIQUOB GRATI ANIMI TESTIMONIUM,
L^TUS, LUEENSQUE DEDICAVIT.
ANNO SALUTIS UVMAN£
MDCCLXXXIX.
Over the tablet is a beautiful medallion of his
Majesty. This structure is adorned with Corinthian
capitals. It emerges from a small thicket, which
backs it and determines its site, and, without imposing
the idea of solitude, renders it sufficiently sequestered.
Before we reach this Temple, the Triumphal Arch
and Woodstock Tower are seen in pleasing per
spective. From hence, the scene gradually changes.
Instead of embellished lawn, we become embosomed
in trees of venerable majesty, some of the oaks having
been tenants of the spot they now occupy for upwards
of a thousand years. The park and gardens seem to
unite, or, rather, their distinction is lost. The trim-

54 THE SPRING.
i less of the walk, and the occasional sight of ever
greens, alone discriminate the latter. The parts unite,
And strength of shade contends with strength of light.
Open grove, at an agreeable distance, on each side,
continues for a considerable space. The whole is a
delightful home-walk, sheltered, by the winding of
its direction, from every blast : possessing sufficient
variety in every part, with an aspect continually
improving. By slightly wending our way to the right, passing
the back of the Aviary, nature and art seem to have
combined in forming a vista, from which the distant
and beautiful Spire of Kidlington is plainly seen.
We then enter a new plantation and garden, and
proceed along the gravel walk, till we approach a
spring, bounded by a lawn, dotted over with magno
lias, ailanthirs, arbora Juda?, and many other beautiful
and sweet-smelling shrubs, the best calculated for
this sheltered spot. This spring* is formed into a
piece of water, and filled with hardy aquatics. An
* Mr. Faraday, of the Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, London,
has lately analyzed this newly-discovered spring, the contents of which
aro : — Free carbonic acid.
Carbonate of lime, held in solution.
Sulphate of lime, a little.
Muriate of soda.
Carbonate of soda, a small proportion.
A pint of the water contains only S, 2 grains of salts; so that the
water may be considered as of considerable purity amongst those ob-
tained from natural sources.

KITCHEN GARDENS. 55
alcove, most tastefully formed, overlooks this en
chanting spot.
'Tis here that strangers from their secret hoard
The pic-nic serve around the cheerful board,
The Alcove filled with spirits grave and gay,
The Lawn attracts the young to sport and play.
Refreshment o'er, again they all advance,
With strength renewed, and ready for a dance.
We now proceed along a gravel walk into a wood,
newly planted, and encircled by an arboretum, twelve
acres in extent, which, together with the wood itself,
contains every description of forest trees, natives of
the coldest climates in Europe, Asia, and America,
and sufficiently' hardy to bear our severest winters.
These trees are partly intermixed with the plantation,
but principally planted in groves, upon grass plots.
Soon after we enter the wood, we pass in review a
long grass walk, twenty feet wide, which forms a
vista, looking on the river and woods above it. One
of the ancient forest oaks here presents itself, with the
trunk only remaining, to tell the tale of its former
greatness ; this tree was discovered in a blaze, sup
posed to have been struck by lightning about six
years ago, and, although its interior is completely
charred, still its branches seem to flourish. Near
this spot is the Palladian Gate, or entrance into the
KITCHEN GARDENS,
Where the eye darts over a cheerful landscape to the
south. On this side, the walls of the Kitchen Gar
dens, which are fourteen feet high, are concealed by

5i) THE AVIARY.
irregular plantations of laurels and other shrubs, thinly
scattered with forest trees. From the gate, we trace
their vast extent clothed with the choicest fruit trees;
we behold an area of eight acres, while four more
remain unseen, furnished with every article of culinary
use, or of elegance in the dessert, and replete with
every requisite appendage for bringing it to perfec
tion. The hot-houses are constructed on an excellent
principle, and produce the finest pines and grapes.
Art here amply supplies the want of a warmer sky.
The site of the old Conservatory, which occupied an
angle fronting the south, is now converted into an
orchard of choice fruit trees.
From this spot we regain the gravel walk, bounded
on one side by the plantation, and on the other by
groves of exotics recently planted, pass an aged oak,
so tenderly locked in the embraces of an ivy, as to
have lost its life in the struggle for mastery ; the ivy
tree, for such it is become, is extremely large and
curious. Proceeding a short distance, and turning
to the right, we again reach the spring and alcove,
but the onward course, inclining to the left, leads us to

THE AVIARY.
It stands on a spot formerly called the Duchess's
Flower Garden. This edifice, designed by Mr.
Hakewill, is stocked with gold and silver pheasants,
curious doves, and other birds.

GARDENS. 51
Leaving the Aviary on the right, we now pass
through the open grove on the left, and catch a glimpse
of the south front of the Palace, which is thrown
into various perspective as we advance. Here the
stranger cannot fail to notice the stately cedar trees,
growing with a luxuriance unequalled by any in this
kingdom. In other directions, we enjoy a picturesque
view of Beckley Hill, just peeping over the inter
vening heights ; of Wytham's lofty woods, rising to
the summit of Botley, where the trees range in solitary
state : and through the long perspective of a rich
champaign, in which Ensham Tower forms a very
conspicuous object, when illumined with a morning
sun, the distant White Horse Hills are seen to elevate
themselves into a back-ground. Nor are remote
pictures alone attractive at this hour : the deep shade
that darkens the neighbouring village of Bladon is
finely contrasted with the level beams that glance on
the water below. At every changing season of the
day, indeed, some new beauty is developed, or the
scenes are thrown into a different perspective, by the
aid of light and shade. The evening sun is not less
propitious than the morning for giving a brilliant
effect to objects in this delightful perambulation.
We then approach the entrance to the Duke's Private
Garden, turning to the right repass the South Front
of the Palace, and are thus imperceptibly brought to
the spot at which we entered.

58 PRIVATE GARDENS.

PRIVATE GARDENS.
The Duke, who is known to possess more botanical
taste and skill than any other nobleman in the king
dom, is now laying out a very large piece of ground,
which, when finished, will be the finest botanical and
flower garden in England.
Here we cannot avoid regretting that at present
strangers can only become acquainted with the beau
ties of these gardens by description. When finished,
they will doubtless be opened for the admission of
occasional visitors. Their being at present closed
from public view should be attributed to the proper
cause — the impossibility of carrying on improve
ments of this extensive nature amidst the continued
interruption of those who are constantly arriving at
Blenheim. At the east end of the Palace is a room of thirty
feet in length, recently fitted up by the present Duke.
The sides and the ceiling are of Waterloo blue puck
ered drapery, ornamented at intervals by black
rosettes, and a large rosette of the same material in
the centre of the ceiling, from which all the ribs of
the drapery diverge. This room looks immediately
on the Arcade Flower Garden and a Pavilion of an
octagon form, lately erected, entirely composed of
various coloured woods, with their natural Lark.
This is supported by columns of yew, with a covered
colonnade around it. Two other apartments are now

PRIVATE GARDENS. 59
added ; the one a Withdrawing Room, fitted up
entirely with a Japan wainscoting, round a painted
representation of the Tiger Hunt in India, with the
landscape of which every beautiful plant of that
country is given from nature, either on the banks, or
floating on the surface of the Ganges. The Refectory
is in imitation of an Italian Dining Room, of Verd
d' Antique and Sienna marble, with corresponding
columns and door-cases. The doors are of polished
Blenheim oak, and the floors tesselated with similar
oak and with acacia, also grown in Blenheim Park.
These apartments open immediately to the Gardens,
and we copy from the pen of Dr. Bowles, of Faringdon
Hall, the following description of this charming,
picturesque "spot, the whole embellishments of which
are executed not only under the inspection of his
Grace, but by his constant direction and co-operation.
" The favoured visitor who may obtain permission
to view this truly classic ground will find new beauties
opening upon him at every step, and will be inex
pressibly delighted with the skilful combination and
re-combination of every thing that is beautiful in land
scape gardening. He will every where meet with
the strong and brilliant conceptions of a highly-culti
vated mind, to whom each mode of landscape, each
nice gradation of effect, is perfectly familiar ; and
who, having culled from the rich storehouse of a
chaste and singularly-gifted imagination the most
elegant forms which are to be found in nature, has
arranged and combined them in one harmonious
whole.

C)0 TERRACE GARDEN.
" We first enter the Arcade Flower Garden, in
which, choice flowers, the gems of earth,
1 With rich inlay
Broider the ground.'
" Hence we pass to the New Holland, or
Botany Bay Garden, which consists of Mimosas,
Metrosideros, Pittosporums, and the most curious and
beautiful plants from New Holland and Norfolk Island.
" The Chinese Garden is adjoining, in which all
the most curious of the Camellia tribe and other valu
able Chinese shrubs are planted out in the natural
ground, and covered by a moss house during the winter
months. The walk then leads to views of Handborough
steeple, the lake, the extensive forest on the opposite
side, and at one point catches a beautiful vista to the
High Lodge. The charm of contrast, the surest
source of beauty, is continually occurring, and yet so
exquisitely arranged that the delighted spectator,
although bowing before the shrine of art, believes
himself to be admiring the handy works of nature.
' Here Nature sees her fairest forms more fair,
Owns them as hers, yet owns herself excelled.'
" From this Garden, which is about eight acres, we
proceed to the Terrace Garden, where the charac
ter of the scene changes, and becomes one of grandeur
united with beauty. Clumps of the choicest Ameri
can and other hardy and exotic plants ornament and
appear to hang on the slopes, which descend with bold
yet easy swells, to the lake ; — mighty oaks, the
noblest productions of nature, with delicate flowers

ROSE GARDEN.

61

nestled at their roots ; — aged trees, whose rugged
and hoary trunks are clad in vests of dark and luxu
riantly green ivy, and round whose naked arms the
honeysuckle winds its spiral coil,

Recompensing well

The strength it borrows, with the grace it lends ;' —
thousands of forest trees, which, in all their mag
nificent varieties, crown the heights on the opposite
side of the lake, and descend thence to the water's
edge, all combine to form a scene of peculiar grandeur.
This noble Terrace commands views of nearly the
whole extent of the lake, the woods beyond it, and
the column.
" The present Duke, the Claude of Landscape Gar
dening, has arranged the points of view with such
consummate skill, that every view is a complete pic
ture, in a style of beauty consistent with itself, and
with the characteristics it requires.
" We then enter the Dahlia Garden, where all
the varieties of these plants, amounting to nearly two
hundred sorts, are planted together round a clump
of about half an acre.
" This walk leads to the Rose Garden, where
more than one thousand sorts of Roses, standard and
dwarf, all redolent of sweets and prodigal of beauty,
are planted. Here we have a view of the fountain and
cascade : after passing a grotto, and from the beauti
ful banks of the lake, viewing the American clumps
and borders, we proceed with ' devious steps and
slow,' through this ' Paradise of sweets,' to a new
F

62

ROCK GARDEN.

Garden, called the ' Flora Petr^a,' or Rock
Garden ; on approaching the entrance to which, an
apparently insurmountable barrier of solid rock pre
sents itself, and would seem to forbid all further
progress.
ENTRANCE TO THK RUCK GARDEN.

" A slight touch of the hand, however; displaces a
mass of rock, which revolves, as if by magic, on its
axis, and admits us to a spot in the highest style
of picturesque beauty. This fairy region may not
unaptly be called the romance of nature, and although
known to be a fiction, has every appearance of reality.
Vast masses of rock, seemingly covered with the thick

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ROCK GARDEN.

63

moss of centuries, have been transposed, combined, and
bhifted into a thousand different forms. In some
parts they form rude seats and grottoes ; in others,
steps hewed in the rock lead to views which abso
lutely foil description ; the astonished spectator here
beholds all the rare rock plants which will vegetate
in the temperature of this climate, brought from their
Alpine solitudes, and placed, by a master's hand,
where they no longer ' blush unseen, and waste their
sweetness on the desert air.' Choice rock flowers,
with scented breath, rejoicing in their indwelling life,
and enshrined, in their own beauty, adorn the rude
rock with their flexile garlands,
' As pearls upon an Ethiop's arm.'
" From this Garden the prospect looks ' as if for a
banquet all earth were spread.' The woods, which
overhang the lake, stretch far away until they are lost
in sweet obscurity, delighting the eye with their beau
tiful lights, softening off all along the sides of the
forest, their depth and clearness of shadow, their
harmony of colouring, and the rich blending of the
whole. The woods, the rock work, the splendid lake,
the gorgeous towers of the Palace, the distant flower
and terrace gardens, the porphyry fountain, all com
bine, with many other beautiful objects, to give a rich
view, unequalled by any other situation in this king
dom ; and presenting the lovely, the magnificent, and
the wild, mingled in beauty and in majesty. The
spectator stands entranced, by the silent magnificence
f 2

61-

SWISS COTTAGE.

of nature and art which surrounds him, whilst deli
cious perfumes, flung from the innumerable flowers
and the wild thyme with which the rocks are studded,
and the soft murmuring sound of the neighbouring
fountain, as softly sweet it steals upon the ear, all
give their influence to the scene on which the eye is
reposing, and produce a feeling of deliciously com
plete delight, a dreamy deliquium of the soul, which
' brings down hours to moments,' and steeps the
senses in luxurious forgetfulness."
On the confines of this Garden is a small unob-
truding Swiss cottage, the residence of the watchman
to the Private Gardens, on viewing which the mind
is carried back to the early delights of reading the
story of Robinson Crusoe and his cottage of bark.

SWISS COTTAGE.

SYLVAN BOWER.

65

" Immediately adjoining the Rock Garden," con
tinues the writer from whom we have quoted, " and
approached by a walk embellished with fragrant thyme
and heath flower, springing from detached masses of
rock, is the Templum Nemorale, or Druids'
Temple. Here is an altar, formed by an immense
tablet of rock, and supported by huge pillars of un
hewn stone, overgrown with moss. The altar has so
much the appearance of having been built by the
hands of other days, that the imagination, already
excited by the wondrous beauties of the place, carries
us back to the far olden time,
' When, with muttered Celtic rhyme,
The white-haired Druid, bard sublime,
Mid the stillness of the night
Wak'd the sad and solemn rite.' W. L. Bowles.
" A little in advance of the Rock Garden, and to
the right of the cascade, is a wild and solitary Sylvan
Bower, in which stands a noble elm, called by Sir
Walter Scott, the ' Trysting Tree.' An evergreen
screen of laurels encircles and conceals its precincts,
and from this sweet retreat is beheld a scene of great
and varied beauty. The Rock Garden forms a bold
and rugged back-ground, quite in the style of Sal
vator Rosa, whilst the foaming waters are heard
sounding down the cataract, and rushing on to min
gle with the adjoining river. To the right a noble
wood rises boldly and abruptly to the view, and in
front the scene opens well upon a tranquil and sweet

66 GARDEN OF SPRINGS.
embosomed valley, aptly called the Valley of Streams,
and through which flows the river Glym,
' Inlaying as with molten glass the vale.'
" In the centre of the stream is a romantic island,
girt with its silver zone of living waters. On the
island, which is approached by a rustic bridge, is
placed an appropriate temple, overshadowed by trees ;
in the distance is a magnificent stone bridge, of which
Sir William Chambers was the architect. To the
left are easy sweeps of descending side-grounds, with
a variety of well-defined distances, interspersed with
clumps of forest trees. The Noble Proprietor, with
his usual good taste, has carefully avoided any inter
ference with the pure simplicity of nature, although
both the natural and incidental beauties of the scene
are all brought into view, and are the more pleasing
as they are within an easy range of the eye.
" From the Flora Petrsea, we pass through grottoes
and rock -like avenues, to the Garden of Springs,
through which a beautiful trout stream pours its
crystal flood.
" In the centre of the stream are pyramids of corals
and shells, from the Mauritius, which afford shade
and protection to the finny people, and heighten the
beauty of the scene. Leaving this, we pass over a
bridge, and come immediately to a newly-discovered
spring, which gushes its liquid tribute into a fountain,
enriched with the most beautiful shells, and sur
rounded by a costly pedestal of solid porphyry. "

THE NEW BRIDGE. 67
We regret that this very beautiful description of
some of the recent improvements in the Private Gar
dens here terminates ; we must, therefore, content
ourselves with observing that near this spot was the
Home Walk, a part of which is now included in
these Gardens ; and next we enter the Sheep Walk,
which is one mile in length, and through its whole ex
tent abounding with rural imagery: this space, though
possessing features of characteristic negligence, is not
less rich nor less animated than the most favourite
spots in these Gardens. It was formerly open to
the park, but is now separated from it by a sunk
fence and iron palisades, which extend to the New
Bridge, and thus give greater seclusion to the spot.
Proceeding : — in one place, the New Bridge, as it
is called, appears broken and ruinous by the bend of
a tree that overhangs the bank ; in another it shows
its arches entire, and even the lower visible reach of
water is seen sparkling through its balustrades j
farther the centre arch alone is perceptible, and some
times the whole is lost. Such is the effect of grouping
and combining ! The lawn is sprinkled with beautiful
groups of trees ; the majestic oak, with pendent
inclination to the stream, is the frequent ornament of
the slope.
About the middle of this walk, the top of Hand-
borough spire,* though nearly three miles off, appears

* It is almost unnecessary to remark, that from the growth or decay
of trees, objects, in a few years, will either be disclosed or concealed,
or changes in picturesque scenery take place, for which either the
natural or artificial painter cannot always provide. Accuracy in delinea-

68 THE CASCADE.
emerging from the bosom of the deep wood beyond
the lake.
Near this spot, we may pause to contemplate the
beauties which the changing scene displays. Nothing
can be more picturesque than Bladon, when gilded
with an evening sun : the battlemented tower, and
here and there the end of a building, glow with the
crimson of his beams ; or the window, partially
shaded by intervening trees, reflects them like living
fire. Claude would have caught the tints with rap
ture ; he would have combined the objects into a
picture ; and on its effect he might have rested the
immortality of his fame.
CASCADE AND ITS ACCOMPANIMENTS.
A little farther on is the first opening of the Cas
cade ; and for some space it forms a principal attrac
tion. The water seems to burst from the deep wood
that bounds the head : its course is totally hid by the
bend, by the figure of the banks, and the effect of
plantation. Every step we descend towards the
Cascade the embellishments thicken, the scene be
comes more illustrious. Groups of acacia, cedar,
poplar, chestnut, and beech, decorate the declivity
down to the river ; and beyond it, at a proportionate
distance, the back-ground, as far as the commence
ment of the new Garden, is adorned with a profusion
of hawthorns, surmounted by noble pendent trees,
tions and descriptions ought always to be attempted ; but the reason
assigned will prevent the most careful from attaining it.

PRIVATE GARDENS. 69
which, stretching round as far as the eye can reach,
terminate in the near horizon.
But before we sink into the vale, it will not be
unpleasing to take a retrospective view of the land
scape we are leaving behind. The lofty spire of
Kidlington church seems to belong to the park ; the
distant hills, formerly observed, are cast into different
perspective ; and a new and wider range is displayed,
farther than the natural vision can distinguish objects.
The obelisk of the Fountain soon peeps between a
little woody island and the Cascade ; and the grand
River, which, a few paces before, was invisible,
bursts at once on the eye in a broad sheet, without
apparent continuity or connexion. Before we reach
the termination of the sheep walk, we lose the Cascade
on the left ; to it, however, we at last descend, be
tween clumps and groups of the most luxuriant and
delicate trees of various climes, intermixed with flowers
and shrubs of the utmost fragrance and beauty. The
ground, which at first is highest on the left, soon
assumes a determined superiority on the right. It
is thrown into masses with a masterly hand ; it has
received every embellishment that refined taste can
confer on natural beauty ; and we enjoy the touch of
art, without waking the idea that revolts at its flaunt
ing display. Here various trees compose a chequer'd scene,
Glowing in gay diversities of green;
There the full stream, through intermingling glades,
Shines a broad lake, or falls in loud cascades.
In the vicinity of the cascade, whose sides are

70 NEW GARDEN.
finely shaded, the water is quite lost above. Even
from the bridge that fronts it at fifty feet distance,
we only see the fall, without tracing the supply. The
charming reach below appears in its most varied fea
tures from this bridge, which connects the gardens :
and when the full stream devolves from the rocky
barrier, and bounds from one point to another in
foamy pride with deafening roar, nothing can be
more grateful to a contemplative mind than such a
scene, and such a situation.
Down the steep fall devolve the foaming tides,
Unfading verdure clothes th' aspiring sides.
Emblem of life ! where waves on waves arise,
While Hope looks up, and views serener skies,
Where still the troublous sea incessant roars,
And still Hope flatters, as we eye the shores.
NEW GARDEN.
The New Garden, which we now enter, though of
no very great extent, contains many beauties peculiar
to itself, many views of magnificent and appropriate
scenery. Following the course of the river on the
left, we soon reach Newfound Well, a mineral spring
of the chalybeate kind, said to possess very active
virtues, before they were weakened by the expansion
of the lake, whose waters are now supposed to mix
with it. In the front of a dark clump rises a pedestal
supporting an urn, and from an aperture in the for
mer gushes the spring ; and being received into an
antique basin, charged with numerous fancy figures,
in alto relievo, much injured, flows out near the top
by the mouths of two lions, and quickly mixes with

THE FOUNTAIN. 71
the river. Again we have a view of the New Bridge,
and of a serpentine reach of water, embracing the
island, and gliding on with glassy smoothness.
THE FOUNTAIN
Next attracts our notice.
There river-gods reclin'd, at ease explore'
A scene more lovely than their native shore ;
Confess Hesperia boasts no charms that vie
With the bright landscapes which around them lie.
It is situated at the bottom of the hill, and forms
an object not unworthy of its place and destination.
In the centre of an elegant capacious basin, where
marble dolphins seem to sport, stands the base,
formed of a species of porous stone, permeable by the
water, and thrown together in rude pomp, with a
cavern from east to west, from which appear to issue
a lion and a sea-horse, the attributes of Europe and
Africa, finely designed.
On the four extremities of the rock, which support
the obelisk, are four river-gods, sculptured in white
marble, with a delicacy and expression not to be sur
passed. These are intended to represent the Danube,
the Nile, the La Plata, and the Ganges, the four
principal rivers of the different quarters of the globe.
The Danube rests his right leg on an oar* — The
Nile veils his head with classical propriety — The
* In the Vatican, at Rome, is an ancient sculpture of the Tiber, in the
same attitude. May not Bernini have intended that river, instead of
the Danube ?

72 THE FOUNTAIN.
American River-God lifts up his left hand and eyes
in surprise, as if first made known to the rest of the
world — The Asiatic River-God, with a placid look,
stretches out his hand to a serpent crawling, and to a
shell. This last seems to be a different design from
the original, where the Ganges is represented as re
cumbent, crowned with sedge, and a rudder between
his legs, with the palm tree behind.
The following arms appear on one side of the base
of the obelisk : --Under a coronet in a border of lions
and castles, per saltier, for Castile and Leon, two
baskets and five. On the opposite side, in a border
of saltiers, under a coronet, two wolves, with lambs
in their mouths.
Above, on the square pedestal of the obelisk, which
is of white marble, is the subsequent inscription, in
four different languages, Latin, Greek, Italian, and
Spanish. AD INNOCENTIUM XI. SUMMUM PONTIFICEM
PRO. CAROLO. II. HISPANIARUM REGE
EXCELC: D. D. GASPAR: DE HARO, ET
GUZMAN.
1IURCHIO. DE. CARPIO. ET IIELICHEO ORATOR.
AD TVPUM MOHS. IN AGONALI FORO ERECT/E.
AH EQU1TE. HERN1NO. OPUS. HOC. EXSTRUI.
JUSSIT, EODEM. DIRICENTE. QUI. INTERIM.
DUM PERFICl.RETUR. DEFUNCTUS.
nor: rosTHUMO. parti : inexiiaustvu.
MENTIS. I'OECUNDITATEM CLAUSIT.
anno d: m: DC : lxxxi.
This fine piece of sculpture, the last work of Ber
nini, and a copy from the magnificent fountain in the

THE FOUNTAIN. 73
Piazza Navona, at Rome, was a present from the
Spanish Ambassador at the Papal court, to the first
Duke of Marlborough. It has only been recently
erected ; and during the many years it lay neglected,
was much damaged, and part of its characteristic ap
pendages and adjuncts lost. Still, however, it bears
a close resemblance to the noble original ; proves an
ornament to the gardens, and the admiration of spec
tators. From the. Fountain, the path meanders up hill.
The left is open to the charming vale through which
the river glides : the right is occasionally shaded by
groups of trees. Almost every step presents a new
scene : the transitions are sudden, but never harsh ;
even the strong contrast between the elegant sculpture
we have just left, and the wild rock-seats that occupy
the brow, gives an additional impression to each.
Above these is a noble view into the park : the High
Lodge, with its antique battlements amidst an amphi
theatre of venerable trees, is a striking object in the
landscape. From this spot we wind to the right,
and fresh beauties again arrest the attention. To
paint every change of scenery that presents itself in
the space of a hundred yards would be impossible ;
the impression can only be conveyed by the eye — the
happiest description would fail. At one point we
have a glimpse of the river ; at another, perhaps, it is
lost ; the turrets of the Palace just emerge ; an ex
panse of water, with a forest line of wood, draws the
view ; and, at a few paces distance, the Palace, the

7'!' THE FOUNTAIN.
river, the two principal bridges, and the fine terrace
on the west of the gardens, all strike the beholder
with irresistible beauty and attraction. At this spot,
the sublime predominates in a very high degree ; and
frigid indeed must that taste be which will not feel
and confess the energy of the scene. When the
rising sun throws its horizontal rays on the gilded
orbs of Blenheim, the tops of the trees catch his ra
diance, and the withdrawing shade lightly floats on
the surface of the lake ; nature does not furnish a
picture of more brilliancy than this.
A little farther, and the intervening groups allow
only glimpses ; again, the prospect opens, the park
displays its sylvan honours on the north, and on the
east the Chiltern hills bound the sight. At the utmost
extent of vision is Winchendon, formerly the seat of
the Duke of Wharton, now the property of the
Marlborough family. There is something grand in
the idea : the vast space between is swallowed up ;
and fancy, combining the distant domains in the same
landscape, gives a sanction and a solution to the
magnificence around.
On the right, as we turn down towards the Iron
Bridge, stands 1'Arrotino, or, as it is usually called,
the Listening Slave, a fine cast in bronze, from the
antique, by Benzi. Descending to the river, from
distant views the transition becomes instantaneous to
near ones. The water is seen flowing round to the
cascade : the bank on the right is abrupt and rocky,
chiefly planted with sumach ; on the left, it is

PRIVATE GARDENS. 75
adorned with the fairest rising plantations, which are
yearly rendering the spot more characteristically
romantic.

' all around

Umbrageous grots, and caves of cool recess,
And murmuring waters down the slope dispers'd,
Or, held by fringed banks, in crystal lakes,
Compose a rural seat of various view. Milton.

At a short distance from the Listening Slave is
another fine cast, also by Benzi, of the Roman
Wrestlers. We now continue our delightful progress, until
we have completed a walk of above three miles,
during which we meet with several rustic and other
curious and appropriate seats, and a temple, dedicated
to Diana, of beautiful and stately structure, designed
by Sir William Chambers. In the front are four
pillars with Ionic capitals ; and on the pediment is
this dedication : — APTEMIAI.
ArPIAI-IAAI. OPESTIAAI.
" To the Ionian, rural, mountain-ranging Diana."
On the back within, is a central medallion, repre
senting, in bas-relief, Hippolytus offering a wreath of
flowers to Diana ; and on two others, united to this
by a festoon, are the subsequent verses, from the

76 PRIVATE GARDENS.
Hippolytus of Euripides, with the annexed elegant
E igl's'i version, by Jacob Bryant, Esq.

2oi t6v$i irXtKrbv ar'tQavov IZ aicnpdrov
Anpiovog, w Siairoiva, KoaphaaQ (pepw,
"Ki'V ovre iroipijv u*ioi tpipfitiv /3or«,
Our' ij\0e ttoi aib~np0Q, a\\' oucriparov
MeXtaaa \fi/*wi/ rjpivbv cisp\erai,
Altaic ce Trorapiaiai Kn7rtvti > puvoic..

To thee, bright Goddess, these fair flowers I bring,
A chaplet woven from th' untainted mead,
Thy cool sequester'd haunt, where never yet
Shepherd approach'd ; where the rnde hind ne'er heav'd
Th' unhallow'd axe: nor voice nor sound is heard,
Save the low murmuring of the vernal bee.
The day-spring from above the dew distils,
Genial and mild, from the pure stream exhal'd,
On every fragrant herb and favourite flower.

Here is also another Temple, lat.^y erected, and
dedicated to the Goddess of Health.
Our limits will not permit us to describe justly
the beauties of this elysium, the local advantages of
which can no where be exceeded. All the gardens
are dotted over by clumps, or bordered by plantations
of shrubs from Siberia, Mount Caucasus, and the
northern parts of China, India, and the Brazils. —
When completed, the new enclosure will contain fifty
acres. Several thousand loads of bog earth, for
the use of the American clumps and borders, have
already been brought into the garden, and it will

RIVER. 77
require about two thousand more to complete it. The
geraniums, the most lasting in bloom of all the flowery
tribe, are planted in small clumps, each containing a
distinct species, and they remain in full luxuriance of
flower and foliage from May to the November frosts.
All the clumps are surrounded with borders of seed
ling oaks, kept constantly cut.

RIVER.*
The River, which covers the whole extent of a
spacious valley, bending in the happiest style, and
affording the most profuse variety of features in the
sublime, the picturesque, the beautiful, and the tranquil,
when viewed. with its accompaniments, is indisputably
the most superb piece of artificial water in this king-

* If the words river and lake are sometimes applied to the same thing,
it is hoped the reader will not impute this to ignorance or error : the
water at Blenheim partakes of the nature of both ; it is a river, because
it has a progressive motion ; it is also a lake, because it spreads far
beyond its original channel. Thus uniting the distinguishing beauties
and characteristics of each, it rises to the pre-eminence of sublimity.
It is proper, however, to remark, that it generally receives the name of
the Lake from its commencement, to the grand bridge, and of the Great
Water down to the cascade. The whole is stocked with abundance
of fine fish, such as pike, perch, carp, tench, &c. Pikes have sometimes
been caught here weighing nearly 301bs. These may be truly called
" the tyrants of the watery plain." In a certain part, several years
ago, 150 brace of fine carp and tench were drawn up in one net by the
fisherman.

78 RIVER.
dom. It is chiefly supplied by the Glyme,* which
still, in a great measure, retains its original direction,
its channel being expanded rather than altered : so
favourable has nature been to the operations of art !
It enters the park in the vale which separates Old
from New Woodstock, flowing under a belt of rising
plantations, and issuing to light by a bridge of seven
arches, the minuteness and multiplicity of which have
been thought to derogate from grandeur, though the
whole is well adapted to give the idea of a supply
equal to the magnitude of the lake.
In other points of view, a thick grove, and beau
tiful groups of Lombardy poplars, and other trees that
love the streams, by concealing the source, promote
the same desirable effect. The banks at first are low :
on one side they soon become bold and winding ; on
the other, they have little elevation, but are happily
varied. The lake, quickly spreading to a great expanse,
stretches towards Queen Pool,t where it forms a
small creek, with various islets, stews, buildings, and
enclosures, chiefly lost in trees ; then taking a deter
mined course, it seems to seek the opposite shore, in

* The Glyme rises near Heythrop Park, the seat of the Earl of
Shrewsbury, and flowing past Kiddington and Glympton, or the town
or village on the Glyme, washes Wootton, and soon after receiving
Barton brook, winds round towards Woodstock, through whose willowy
meads it runs in several channels, which unite in Blenheim lake.
f So called from Philippa, Queen of Edward III. The Fisherman's
Houso and appendages, ninl the adjoining duckery, usually containing
some very curious species, deserve notice hero.

RIVER.

79

its progress flowing round Queen Elizabeth's Island,*
a most delightful spot, clothed with aquatic trees and
shrubs, of the utmost beauty and variety, which con
nect the groups on the banks ; and soon becoming
embayed on the left, it winds round to the Grand
Bridge, narrowing, as it advances, to an adequate
breadth with that noble structure.

THE GRAND BRIDGE.

^H-t ^L^SXI tJVx^i?^' 

* This is part of the ancient causeway leading to the old Manor
House, which stood about one hundred yards farther north. The Lom-
bardy poplars planted here begin to acquire too determined an ascend
ancy over their congeners; and are too much spread over the surface.
A few, closely planted, and forming a single group, may frequently
embellish a landscape ; but seen individually, they are more proper to
conceal defects than to increase the beauties of the scene.
G 2

80 RIVER.
From the Bridge,* a most capital expanse of water
again catches the eye ; an expanse unrivalled by the
finest English river, t unmixed with the sea ; and
which, washing the remote banks, varies with their
direction, makes a long diversion up a vale that forms
a right angle with its bed, and affords the representa
tion of a collateral stream : then rolling a seemingly
enlarged volume, it winds round, and washes the foot
of the declivity on which part of the gardens lies ;
and on the other side it is bounded by a considerable
hill, feathered down with a noble wood to the water's
edge, and frequently reflected on its surface.
Crystal lakes,
O'er which the giant oak, himself a grove,
Flings his romantic branches, and beholds
Ilis reverend image in th' expanse below. Mason.
Preserving one general, unvarying direction, for a
considerable length, it gradually narrows ; and viewed
from the grand bridge, appears land-locked and em
bayed. Several pleasure vessels, of various construc
tion, riding at anchor, swans sailing in conscious
pride, and other aquatic fowl, indigenous as well as

* A description of which is given at page IS.
t Brown, who superintended the early improvements here, in his
usual consequential manner, lias been heard to boast, " That the Thames
would never forgive him for what he had done at Blenheim." Had he
lived till the present lime, he would have been sensible how much his
most finished labours may bo surpassed.

RIVER.

81

foreign, unite to enliven the watery scene. When
tranquil, the reflected and inverted images in the
stream present a picture which fancy contemplates
with mild delight ; when agitated with winds, its
rippling bosom and wavy dash are lively emblems of
the sea, to which it then bears some resemblance.
At the point where it appears embayed, it passes
under a light iron bridge, simple and unadorned, and
characteristic of its destination ; and making a pretty
sudden bend, it tumbles down a barrier of massy
rocks, with a force equal to its copiousness ; and
with a fall of eighteen feet perpendicular, and twenty-
seven with the angle it forms. Above this cascade
are a hundred and fifty acres of water : below it is
a continuation of a hundred more.
Recovering its level, the river flows with a serpen
tine sweep through an expanded vale, embellished
with scattered groups of flourishing young planta
tion ; and, at an agreeable distance, stretches another
face of the hill already mentioned as a boundary,
covered with trees whose pendency and age render
them at once picturesque and venerable. But though
in this reach the river admits an oval woody islet, its
channel becomes now more contracted than before ;
and its style partakes rather of the beautiful than the
sublime. Reaching the New Bridge, a very elegant
modern structure, it inclines with the course of the
vale, and touching near Bladon, makes a determined
bend to the right. The banks on both sides at this
point are swelling lawn, with little clumps, connected

82 RIVER.
by single trees, disposed without the least show of
intention, but uniting to produce the happiest effect.
From hence the river takes a variety of charming
turns, chiefly with a strong inclination to the right,
doubling, as it were, on itself, and circumscribing the
extremity of the hill which accompanies it the greatest
part of its course. In one place a fine sheet of water
spreads before the eye, and invites progress by its
apparent continuity ; in another, the trees seem to
embay it, and we advance a considerable way before
we can detect the deception.
From the first determined sweep near Bladon, a
gravel walk on the left follows the direction of the
river. This walk is bounded on one side by a belt of
thick plantation ; on the other, a few scattered trees
range with the stream. Beyond the river, we are
charmed with all the diversity of pleasing scenery ; a
small grove first presents itself, close to the verge of
the tide ; a few irregular trees next succeed •, some
times a clump planted at the termination of a reach,
by advancing to the belt on the opposite shore,
appears to land-lock the stream ; then again we are
delighted with open lawn and diversified landscape.
At last, the river, passing under a low bridge with
numerous arches, precipitates itself down a steep cas
cade, and at the same instant falls into the Evenlode,*
* The Evenlode obtains its name from a village, so called, in Wor
cestershire. In its course it receives several little brooks, washes
Charlbury, and sorpentizing through fertile meadows, at length forms
the southern boundary of Blenheim Park.

RIVER. 83
which gliding in an opposite direction through ver
dant meads, winds under the park to receive the tri
butary Glyme. The united rivers surrounding a
woody island immediately after their junction, mean
der through a continuation of meads, dispensing beauty
and fertility, as they flow to join the classic Isis.
The effect occasioned by two rivers hastening to
meet each other, and then bending almost at right
angles with their former course, is as pleasing as it
is singular and romantic. No awkward termination
is here to be traced, no disgusting display of art to
heighten the scene : Taste unfolds the beauties of
Nature with a delicate touch, and Art is only the
handmaid to her charms.
So many circumstances lend their aid to embellish
this spot and its vicinity, that we scruple not to pro
nounce it one of the most delightful in the precincts
of Blenheim : but it retires from the view, and its
unobtrusive charms are, therefore, seldom seen.
While scenes less captivating force attention by a bold
display, these, like modesty, shun the public eye, and
are only visited by the discerning few. May we not
add, such is the fate of unassuming merit ? Its lovely
qualities are only casually noticed, and the impression
they make is often too evanescent to avail them !
In this sequestered, situation, the contemplative
man,

• sublim'd from low desires,

To commune with his secret soul retires ;
Thinks on the present, scans his future state,
Explores what ills, what blessings round him wait;

84 RIVER.
Or loves a retrospective glance to cast
On many a dear ecstatic rapture past ;
To mark those few, those fleeting hours that smil'd,
Like flowers that bloom amid a desert wild ;
Those scenes of long-lamented joys to mourn,
Nay, sigh for pains that never can return.
On the whole, the water at Blenheim, as a very
elegant writer* observes, " in size, form, and style,
is equal to the majesty of the scene, and is designed
in the spirit, is executed with the liberality of the
original donation, when this residence of a mighty
monarch was bestowed by a great people, as a muni
ficent reward, on the hero who had deserved best of
his country."

* Wheatley on Modem Gardening.

THE PARK. 85

THE PARK.*
The Park is one continued galaxy of charming
prospects and agreeably diversified scenes. It is prin
cipally extra-parochial, and contains about two thou
sand seven hundred acres, round which are the most
enchanting rides, chiefly shaded towards the boundary
with a deep belt of various trees, evergreens, and
deciduous shrubs, whose mingled foliage exhibits the
different gradations of tints, from the most faint to
the deepest green ; while plantations of corresponding
figure and growth, on the park side, sometimes range
with the former, and sometimes breaking into groups,

** That vast space which lies without the River has received the appro
priate appellation of the Great Park ; the portion which is, in a great
measure, surrounded by it, of the Little Park. See the Plan.
The following meteorological phenomenon deserves to be recorded.
On the evening of the 29th of November, 1797, a freezing rain began to
fall, and in the course of the night incrusted every tree, shrub, and
blade of grass, to a thickness almost incredible. In consequence of this
many trees, and an immense number of branches, were brought to the
ground. In Blenheim Park, to which, and a small surrounding space
this phenomenon was confined, nearly one thousand loads of wood were
destroyed. The very rooks had their wings frozen, and fell from their
perches. Nothing could be more beautiful than the trees in their bril
liant coats of mail. By candle-light, every leaf of evergreens seemed
to have a diamond pendent at its extremity.
Where similar phenomena have occurred, it has always been found
that they were partial in their effects, and ran in a narrow track.

86 THE PARK.
with large interstices between, relieve the tsedium of
continued uniformity, and open the most brilliant
prospects. Indeed, the effects of superior taste in
design are no where more perceptible than in the
boundless views which at intervals present themselves ;
the limits of the park being in general quite concealed,
and the whole surrounding country, varied with hills
and vales, spires, towers, and villas, appearing as one
wide-extended landscape. In the internal part, new
improvements are continually adopting, and new
plantations rising, wherever they can contribute to
the beauty or the luxuriance of the scene.
 Hence the poor are cloth'd, the hungry fed,

Health to himself, and to his children bread
The labourer bears. 

During the vernal season, the profusion of blos
somed hawthorns, in all the wild luxuriance of nature,
scattered among the forest trees, diffuse the most
delightful fragrance, while they increase the general
effect ; and even when stripped of their foliage, they
are not ungrateful to the eye that is enamoured of
vegetative beauty in its every aspect.
In different places, also, we meet with venerable
oaks, of extraordinary dimensions and beauty, that
have seen some centuries pass over their heads, and
yet flourish in a green old age.
The usual ride round the park, for occasional
visitors, includes a circumference of upwards of four

THE PARK. 87
miles, describing a wide circle round the Palace and
Gardens, which are casually and advantageously seen
through glades in the progress, and exhibiting many
magnificent pictures over the park and country round.
This ride has ever been considered as the first of
natural charms that Blenheim supplies, and as the
coup d'ceil and compendium of all the rest ; and as
it may be taken in a carriage or on horseback, it is
neither accompanied with fatigue nor delay.
In this delightful tour, we pass from scenes the
most adorned to open grove,* and even to the wild
majesty of a native forest, with no abrupt or unpleas-
ing transition. Glades, lawns, gentle hills, retiring
vales, wood and water, so sweetly blend and har
monize in the landscape, that the eye every where
finds novelty and interest, and acknowledges the
effect of contrast and design, without revolting at its
display. But to enumerate every beauty conspicuous
in this tour would be to delineate all that is charming
in natural objects : a detail must not, therefore, be
expected. Let it, however, be observed, that at Blen
heim the ferme ornee is combined with the magnificent
park. In one quarter, the eye is delighted with the
sight of waving corn ; in another, with green paddocks
that invite the scythe : here a building, dedicated to

* It is said that the trees to the eastward of Blenheim, which now
form an open grove, were originally planted in battalia; and of this
there are still many evident traces : but the axe has long since judici
ously broken their ranks, and restored them to taste and nature.

88 THE PARK.
agricultural purposes, or raised for the accommodation
of the necessary officers, just peeps through the deep
shade of surrounding trees ; there the team rattles
down the slope abrupt. On one side appears a herd
of deer ; on another, a flock of sheep : and sometimes
animals, native and foreign, graze in social peace.
All is a picture of rural life in its most agreeable co
lours, in its happiest avocations : it presents cheerful
activity, or tranquil repose — Arcadian scenes divested
of fable, and real wealth without glitter.
Among the many captivating views which every
spectator of taste will recognize in the tour of the
Park, those from the High Lodge and the Obelisk
may be particularized.

THE HIGH LODGE.

89

THE HIGH LODGE.

The High Lodge was once the residence of the
witty, but immoral Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and
the place where he died. Let those who have copied
his profligacy reflect on his remorse, and resolve to
imitate his repentance.
Here dying Wilmot caught religion's flame,
And breath 'd contrition for a life of shame ;
Condemn'd his wit, revok'd his follies past,
And fix'd his anchor on the skies at last.

From hence, the prospect is not only very exten
sive, but is. also one of the most attractive that can

90 THE HIGH LODGE.
be conceived ; it includes, among a variety of other
capital and picturesque objects, a distant view of the
University of Oxford in one direction, and of a richly
wooded country, in which Wychwood Forest bounds
the landscape, in another.

Enchanting site ! hence every rural sweet,
And every natural charm delight to meet.
Hence to the eye the landscape opens wide,
The dancing spirits roll a quicker tide.
Around, new objects prompt th' excursive lay ;
The gently winding stream, the meadow gay ;
The smiling village, sunk in leafy shades,
That just unfolds its low roof through the glades ;
The splendid seat, the tower, the shining spire,
And hills that catch the sun's departing fire.
The sylvan scene, where erst, in happier days,
To Nature's charms I pour'd the heart-felt lays.*
Oxonia's fanes, of every art the seat,
Of every muse the lov'd, the blest retreat.
O may fair science in her precincts smile,
And shed new lustre o'er this happy isle :
To guard the laws, religion's flame maintain,
Still may worth issue from her fostering reign.

The High Lodge occupying the greatest elevation
in the park, its whole vicinity is replete with beauties.
The drive through the forest wood, which lies be
tween it and the lake, presents such an assemblage
of views, and such various combinations of them in
rapid succession, that no stranger should omit taking
this route. The Water, the Palace, the Gardens, the
* See Ode to Nature, written in Wychwood Forest.

THE OBELISK. 91
Grand Bridge, the Pillar, Woodstock, and other near
and remote objects, open and shut upon the eye like
enchantment ; and, at one point, every change of a
few paces furnishes a new scene, each of which would
form a subject worthy of the sublimest pencil.
Viewed from the Obelisk or Pillar, at once the
Palace, the River, and the Gardens are seen in their
best perspective, and the idea of grandeur they excite
will convert admiration into rapture. Nor will the
Obelisk itself pass without observation : it is raised
to the memory of the hero of the last century.
THE OBELISK.

; ,:'or

fcP^

*/V^--B*&£^k£j~£&

92 THE OBELISK.
The statue of this great man, which crowns the
column, is designed in a Roman dress : at his feet
are two eagles : in the left hand is the general's
baton, in the right, a figure of Victory elevated. On
three sides of the pedestal are inscribed the Acts of
the British Parliament in his favour, and the entail
of his honours and estates on the descendants of his
daughters ; and hence — issue failing in Lady Godol-
phin, the eldest — from the Countess of Sunderland,
the second daughter, they now centre in the Spencer
family. On the side facing Blenheim, his character
is thus delineated, and his exploits recorded, as is
supposed, by the masterly pen of Lord Bolingbroke :

The Castle of Blenheim was founded by Queen Anne
In the fourth year of her Reign,
In the year of the Christian /Era
One Thousand Seven Hundred and Five.
A Monument designed to perpetuate the Memory of the
Signal Victory
Obtain'd over the French and Bavarians,
Near the Village of Blenheim,
On the Banks of the Danube,
By John, Duke of Marlborough,
The Hero not only of his Nation, but of his Age :
Whose Glory was equal in the Council and in the Field ;
Who, by Wisdom, Justice, Candour, and Address,
liectiiicil'd various, and even opposite Interests;
Acquired an Influence
Which no Rank, no Authority can give.
Nor any Force, but that of superior Virtue;
Became the ti\cd important Centre,
Which united, in one common Cause,
The principal States of Europe ;
Who, by military Knowledge, and irresistible Valour,

THE OBELISK. 93
In a long Series of uninterrupted Triumphs,
Broke the Power of France,
When raised the highest, when exerted the most.
Rescued the Empire from Desolation,
Asserted and confirmed the Liberties of Europe.
" Philip, a Grandson of the House of France,
united to the Interest, directed by the Policy, sup
ported by the Arms of that Crown, was placed on
the Throne of Spain. King William III. beheld
this formidable Union of two Great, and once Rival
Monarchies. At the end of a Life spent in defending
the Liberties of Europe, He saw them in their
greatest danger. He provided for their security in
the most effectual manner. He took the Duke of
Marlborough into his Service.
" Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
" To the States General of the United Provinces,
" The Duke contracted several Alliances, before the
Death of King William. He confirmed and improved
these, He contracted others, after the Accession of
Queen Anne : and re-united the Confederacy, which
had been dissolved at the end of a former war, in a
stricter and firmer League.
" Captain General and Commander in Chief
" Of the Forces of Great Britain,
" The Duke led to the Field the Army of the Allies.
He took with surprising rapidity Venlo, Rure-
monde, Stevenswaert, Liege. He extended and
H

94 THE OBELISK.
secured the frontiers of the Dutch. The Enemies,
whom he found insulting at the Gates of Nimeghen,
were driven to seek for shelter behind their Lines.
He forced Bonne, Huy, Limbourg, in another
Campaign. He opened the Communication of the
Rhine, as well as the Maes. He added all the
Country between these Rivers to his former Con
quests. " The Arms of France, favoured by the Defec
tion of the Elector of Bavaria, had penetrated into
the Heart of the Empire. This mighty Body lay
exposed to immediate ruin. In that memorable
Crisis, the Duke of Marlborough led his Troops,
with unexampled Celerity, Secrecy, Order, from the
Ocean to the Danube. He saw, He attacked, nor
stopped, but to conquer the Enemy. He forced the
Bavarians, sustained by the French, in their
strong Intrenchments at Schellenberg. He passed
the Danube. A second Royal Army, composed of
the best Troops of France, was sent to reinforce the
first. That of the Confederates was divided. With
one part of it the Siege of Ingolstadt was carried
on : with the other, the Duke gave Battle to the
united strength of France and Bavaria. On the
second day of August, one thousand seven hundred
and four, He gained a more glorious Victory than
the Histories of any Age can boast. The heaps of
slain were dreadful proofs of his Valour : A Marshal
of France, whole Legions of French, his Prisoners,
proclaimed his Mercy. Bavaria was subdued, Ra-

THE OBELISK. 95
tisbon, Augsbourg, Ulm, Meminghen, all the
Usurpations of the Enemy were restored. From
the Danube, the Duke turned his victorious Arms
towards the Rhine and the Moselle ; Landau,
Treves, Traerbach, were taken. In the course
of one Campaign the very Nature of the War was
changed. The Invaders of other States were reduced
to defend their own. The Frontier of France was
exposed in its weakest Part to the Efforts of the
Allies. " That He might improve this Advantage, that He
might push the Sum of Things to a speedy Decision,
the Duke of Marlborough led his troops early in
the following Year once more to the Moselle.
They whom He had saved a few months before, neg
lected to second him now. They who might have
been his Companions in Conquest, refused to join
him. When He saw the generous Designs He had
formed frustrated by private Interest, by Pique, by
Jealousy, He returned with speed to the Maes. He
returned, and Fortune and Victory returned with
Him. Liege was relieved : Huv retaken. The
French, who had pressed the Army of the States
General with superior Numbers, retired behind
Intrenchments which they deemed impregnable. The
Duke forced these Intrenchments with inconsiderable
loss, on the seventh day of July, 1705. He defeated
a great Part of the Army which defended them. The
rest escaped by a precipitate Retreat. If Advantages
proportionable to this Success were not immediately
h 2

<)6 THE OBELISK.
obtained, let the Failure be ascribed to that Misfor
tune which attends most Confederacies — a Division of
Opinions where one alone should judge — a Division
of Powers where one alone should command. The
Disappointment itself did Honour to the Duke. It
became the Wonder of Mankind, how he could do so
much under those restraints which had hindered him
from doing more.
" Powers more absolute were given him after
wards. The Increase of his Powers multiplied his
Victories. At the opening of the next Campaign,
when all his Army was not yet assembled, when it
was hardly known that he had taken the Field, the
noise of his Triumphs was heard over Europe. On
the twelfth day of May, one thousand seven hundred
and six, he attacked the French at Ramillies. In
the space of two hours their whole Army was put to
flight. The Vigour and Conduct with which he
improved the Success were equal to those with which
he gained it. Louvain, Brussels, Malines,
Liere, Ghent, Oudenarde, Antwerp, Damme,
Bruges, Courtray surrendered. Ostend, Me-
nin, Dendermond, Aetjh were taken. Brabant
and Flanders were recovered. Places which had
resisted the greatest Generals for Months, for Years ;
Provinces disputed for Ages, were the Conquests of
a Summer. " Nor was the Duke content to triumph alone.
Solicitous for the general Interest, his Care extended
to the remotest scenes of the War ; He chose to lessen

the obelisk. 97
his own Army, that he might enable the Leaders of
other Armies to conquer. To this must be ascribed,
that Turin was relieved, the Duke of Savoy rein
stated, the French driven with Confusion out of
Italy. " These Victories gave the Confederates an Oppor
tunity of carrying the War on every side into the
Dominions of France. But she continued to enjoy
a kind of peaceful Neutrality in Germany. From
Italy she was once alarmed, and had no more to
fear. The entire Reduction of this Power, whose
Ambition had caused, whose strength supported the
War, seemed reserved to him alone, who had so tri
umphantly begun the glorious Work.
" The Barrier of France on the side of the Low
Countries had been forming for more than half a
Century. What Art, Power, Expense, could do,
had been done, to render it impenetrable. Yet here
she was most exposed : for here the Duke of Marl
borough threatened to attack her.
" To cover what they had gained by Surprise, or
had been yielded to them by Treachery, the French
marched to the Banks of the Schelde. At their
Head were the Princes of the Blood, and their most
fortunate General, the Duke of Vendome. Thus
commanded, thus posted, they hoped to check the
Victor in his Course. Vain were their Hopes. The
Duke of Marlborough passed the River in their
Sight. He defeated their whole Army. The Ap
proach of Night concealed, the Proximity of Ghent

98 the obelisk.
favoured their Flight. They neglected nothing to
repair their Loss, to defend their Frontier. New
Generals, new Armies appeared in the Nether
lands. All contributed to enhance the Glory, none
were able to retard the Progress of the Confederate
Armies. " Lisle, the Bulwark of this Barrier, was besieged.
A numerous Garrison, and a Marshal of France,
defended the Place. Prince Eugene of Savoy com
manded, the Duke of Marlborough covered and
sustained the Siege. The Rivers were seized, and
the Communication with Holland interrupted. —
The Duke opened new Communications with great
Labour, and greater Art. Through Countries over
run by the Enemy, the necessary Convoys arrived in
Safety. One alone was attacked. The Troops which
attacked it were beaten. The Defence of Lisle was
animated by assurances of Relief. The French
assembled all their force. They marched towards the
Town. The Duke of Marlborough offered them
battle, without suspending the Siege. They aban
doned the Enterprize. They came to save the Town :
They were the Spectators of its Fall.
" From this Conquest the Duke hastened to
others. " The Posts taken by the Enemy on the Schelde
were surprised. That River was passed the second
Time, and, notwithstanding the great Preparations
made to prevent it, without opposition. Brussels
besieged by the Elector of Bavaria, was relieved.

the obelisk. 99
Ghent surrendered to the Duke in the middle of a
Winter remarkably severe. An Army, little inferior
to his own, marched out of the Place.
" As soon as the Season of the Year permitted
him to open another Campaign, the Duke besieged
and took Tournay. He invested Mons. Near this
City, the French Army, covered by thick Woods,
defended by treble Intrenchments, waited to molest,
nor presumed to offer Battle. Even this was not
attempted by them with impunity. On the last day
of August, one thousand seven hundred and nine,
the Duke attacked them in their Camp. All was
employed, nothing availed against the Resolution of
such a General, against the Fury of such Troops.
The Battle was bloody : the Event decisive. The
Woods were pierced : the Fortifications trampled
down. The Enemy fled. The Town was taken.
" Douay, Bethune, Aire, St. Venant, Bou
chain, underwent the same Fate in two succeeding
Years. Their vigorous Resistance could not save
them. The Army of France durst not attempt to
relieve them. It seemed preserved to defend the
Capital of the Monarchy.
" The Prospect of this extreme Distress was nei
ther distant nor dubious. The French acknow
ledged their Conqueror, and sued for Peace.
" These are the Actions of the Duke of MARLBOROUGH,
Performed in the compass of a few Years,
Sufficient to adorn the Annals of Ages.
The Admiration of other Nations

100 the park.
Will be conveyed to latest posterity,
In the Histories even of the Enemies of BRITAIN.
The Sense which the BRITISH Nation had
Of his transcendent Merit
was expressed
in the most solemn, most effectual, most durable manner.
The Acts of PARLIAMENT inscribed on this Pillar
Shall stand as long as the BRITISH Name and Language
last,
Illustrious Monuments
Of MARLBOROUGH'S Glory,
and
Of BRITAIN'S Gratitude."
Rows of stately trees describe an open square on
the east and west of this column : but soon converg
ing behind to a moderate breadth, and breaking into
groups and clumps of different forms and magnitudes,
they form a charming vista to an almost undeter
mined length. Through this vista formerly lay the
road conducting to the grand approach ; a straight
reach of more than two miles, without much diversity
in the objects, and with too great formality to please.
It now takes a happier direction along the edge of
the lake to Queen Pool, then enters a low bottom
with noble steeps in distinct masses, the sides of
which are adorned with pendent groves and clumps
of different growths ; and, slowly gaining the level,
at last terminates in the parallel of the palace and
pillar ; reaching the same point with the undeviating
vista, which, in its present application, is a real em
bellishment. The ancient Roman road, generally known by the
appellation of Akeman-street, crosses this vista from

THE PARK. 101
east to west ; and may be distinctly traced near the
North Lodge. Where the Akeman has been broken
up, which, as lovers of antiquity, we lament has been
done where it could not be necessary, its materials
appear to have been an immense congestion of rubble
and stones, such as the vicinity supplied. Its ridge,
however, in many places, is still entire, and exhibits
a proof of the persevering industry, the indefatigable
pains, and the public spirit of the Roman Colonists.
At a small distance beyond the park, a little to the
right of the Akeman, in the parish of Stonesfield,
and in a spot called Chest-Hill Acre, probably from
Castrum, a tesselated pavement* was discovered in
171 1» which was then generally supposed to be no
thing more than the site of a Roman general's tent.
In 1779, near the same spot, the areas of several
other large apartments were found, with curious tes-
selations, and borders, at once admirable for beauty
and device. Adjoining was a hypocaust, and a bath,
and other remains of Roman architecture, in brick, of
the most durable texture. These have long been
removed or demolished ; but correct drawings of the
whole, by Lewington, of Woodstock, (who saved
copies,) are in the possession of the Antiquarian So
ciety.! The two largest apartments are very accu-

* See Hearne, Pointer, Pitiscus' Lexicon, and the second volume of
the Supplement to Montfaucon's Antiquities, p. 39.
t On the inclosure of the parish of Stonesfield, (1801,) by a tasteless
allotment of property, the site of these venerable remains of the Romans
was divided among three different proprietors, so that not a vestige

102 THE PARK.
rately and beautifully represented in an elegantly
executed engraving by that ingenious self-taught
artist, Fowler.
But this park is still more celebrated for its mag
nificent royal palace, commonly called the Manor
House, the frequent and favourite retreat of several
kings of England, at various periods, till the reign of
Charles I. when it stood a long siege under the con
duct of Captain Samuel Fawcet, who behaved with
such skill and resolution on behalf of his royal mas
ter, that many of the enemy fell before the place ;
and had not the king sent commissioners to treat
about a surrender, which was at last agreed on April
26, 1646, this intrepid officer was determined to
bury himself under its ruins. Some of the intrench
ments cast up on this occasion are still visible on the
brow of the hill above Queen Pool ; and the parterres
and knots of the ancient gardens are distinctly to be
traced on the lawn in front of Churchill's Pillar.
Some venerable and majestic remains of the Manor
House were to be seen till after the building of Blen
heim,* when every trace of the ancient edifice was

of them will soon be left. While the field was inclosing, the writer of
this saw a very beautiful border of one of the tesselated areas unco
vered. It lay only about six inches from the surface, and must have
been grazed by the plough every year that the spot was in cultivation.
Coins, chiefly of the later Roman Emperors, are still occasionally found
in the vicinity ; and probably other remains of anUquity may be dis
covered. * On levelling the site of the Old Manor House, 17-23, a coffin was
dug up, in which was found a gold ring, of about ten or twelve guineas'

THE PARK. 103
removed, and two sycamore trees were planted to
mark its site.
Where yon spread trees wave o'er the crystal stream,
And shew inverted by the solar beam ;
There where the margin's daisy-mantled side
Shelves down to kiss the congregated tide,
An ancient palace stood, — the lov'd retreat
Of Britain's monarchs from the toils of state;
Where, dropt the weight of diademic power,
The king, in private, spent the tranquil hour;
New schemes contriv'd, or ponder'd on the past,
Nor felt time slowly lag, nor fly too fast.
On entering the park from Woodstock, these pre
sent themselves on a bold elevation beyond the river,
at a small distance from the bridge : their growth is
luxuriant ; their foliage of the most vivid green :
they spread their broad arms on every side, and seem
to guard the spot with religious veneration. Though
their appearance is cheerful, though the pensive has
no share in the picture ; a philosophic mind can
scarcely view them, without impressions more strong
than the most splendid ruin could have excited. At
the sight of a ruin, it is natural to indulge reflections
on past scenes, to recal images of ancient grandeur,
and to connect what remains with what is lost. Here
we cannot connect, but we may create. - Fancy is at
liberty to raise the pile, to fashion its ornaments, and
value, inscribed with these words, " Remember the Covenant." — Le-
land's Coll. by Hearne.
From prints and drawings still remaining', it appears that the palace
of Woodstock was a magnificent and extensive structure.

104 THE PARK.
to adapt its appendages, without a guide, and with
out control ; and fancy will ever exceed realities.
We thus erect the visionary palace ; we people it
with the gay, the illustrious, and the good ; we
listen to the voice of melody ; we portray the
sprightly dance, the proud levee ; at once they
vanish ; and we awake to the recollection of the va
nity of art, and the ravages of time, which here show
their completest triumph. Of the regal dome, not a
wreck remains ; and where kings gave audience, and
vassals knelt, the herds crop the velvet green.*
Campos ubi Troja fuit. 
Oblivion broods upon the levell'd lawn,
And fly the hints by history's pencil drawn.
The turf-grown palace shows no antique tower,
Nor wail the loves in Rosamonda's Bower.
This place can boast a very remote antiquity.
History informs us, that King Ethelred, who began
his reign in 866, held a parliament at Woodstock
palace ; and Lambard, in his Collection of Saxon
Laws, recites several statutes then and there enacted.
His brother the illustrious Alfred, who mounted the
throne in 872, not only occasionally resided at Wood
stock, but, according to a MS. in the Cottonian Li-

* On moving the ground in the vicinity, in 1791, several natural and
artificial curiosities were discovered ; among the rest, some coins of the
Roman Emperors. Might not a Roman villa have originally occupied
the spot? The situation was worthy of that distinction, and probably
enjoyed it.

THE PARK. 105
brary, spent so much of the little space here, in
which he was disengaged from his numerous wars,
that he translated Boethius de Consolatione Philo
sophies ; and about the same time he is supposed to
have founded the University of Oxford, or rather to
have restored it.

Here sacred Alfred, victor of his foes,
Indulg'd a studious, and a mild repose ;
Undrew the veil that wrapp'd the moral page,
And sooth'd by classic arts a barbarous age !
Bade science bloom with renovated grace,
And clasp the Muses in a close embrace.

Camden, in his Britannia* says, that King Ethel-
red, father of Edward the Confessor, " Apud Wood
stock olim ordinum conventum habuit, et leges tulit ;"
that is, held a convention of the states at Woodstock,
and passed laws. And from the censual roll, or sur
vey made in the eighteenth year of William the Con
queror, commonly called Doomsday Book, it appears
that Woodstock was then a borough, and that the
demesnes were afforested. Rous, the historian, tells
us, that this was the first park in England : in point
of natural beauty and elegant embellishments, it still
maintains priority ! Dugdale seems to be of Rous's
opinion; and William of Malmesbury, and others,
inform us that King Henry I. furnished it with fo
reign wild beasts, which he procured from other
princes, or bought up at a great expense. Certain it
is, that this monarch at least beautified the palace,

ioc

THE PARK.

and surrounded the park with a wall, which in many
places still remains ; whether he built the palace
from the ground, is by no means so clear.*
At the mention of Woodstock, the name of Henry
II. naturally occurs : for who has not heard of Henry
and Rosamond ? This celebrated beauty was daugh
ter of Walter, Lord Clifford. At the early age of
fifteen she possessed sufficient charms to captivate a
warrior king, who seduced her from her friends, and
erected a bower for her reception, and a labyrinth by
which her romantic retreat might communicate with
the palace, and prevent any surprisal from the vin
dictive jealousy of his Queen.
This precaution, however, is said to have proved
ineffectual, and that the lovely frail one at length fell
a victim to the resentment of the injured and impla
cable Eleanor. Ill-fated fair! by Henry led astray,
And taught to tread Seduction's thorny way ;
Lur'd from parental arms, ere prudence' call
Fix'd Virtue's wish, or pictur'd Vice's fall ;
Immur'd by Love in solitary bowers,
And doom'd to wither like the desert flowers !

* Not only the park, but the town of Woodstock, was made by
Henry I. And, indeed, the town soon flourished on account of the
famous park. — Leland's Collect.
In an original documont, however, of the reign of Edward the First,
relative to Woodstock, and appended to Hearne's History of Robert of
Avcsbury, the foundation of New Woodstock is ascribed to Henry II.
Be this as it may, its origin, as its name implies, is much less remote
than that of Old Woodstock, which is still one of the demesne towns,
and has vestiges remaining of its former greater extent.

THE PARK. 107
The manner of her discovery, and the nature of
her death, are variously related, and much disputed ;
and authentic history does not furnish us with a clue
to unravel them. It is probable, however, that she
fell the victim of disease, and that the legend of her
being poisoned by Eleanor has no foundation in truth.
Rosamond was buried in the choir of Godstow Nun
nery, near Oxford, where a magnificent tomb was
erected to her memory,* surrounded with tapers con
tinually burning, till the beginning of King Richard's
reign, when Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in his primary
visitation, coming to Godstow, and being offended
at the extraordinary veneration he saw paid to a
woman of her unfortunate description, burst into a fit
of zeal, and ordered her remains to be removed, and
deposited in a less sacred place. His injunction was
complied with, and the nuns interred her in their
chapter-house, covering her grave with a flat stone,
on which was inscribed no more than Tomba Rosa
mund 1. What is now shewn for Rosamond's tomb,
and some miserable verses recorded as her epitaph,
are only inventions to amuse the credulous, and baits
for the ignorant : at the dissolution of the monastery

* See notices of Rosamond's Tomb in the Gentleman's Magazine for
November, 1791, p. 985; and of the foundation of Godstow, in the
same work, for August, 1787, p. 676. It stands in a low meadow be
tween Wolvercot and Wytham, surrouuded by different branches of the
Isis. What is called the Chapel, now serves for cattle to take shelter
in. A few of the bounding walls, and some ancient arches, are the
only other remains of this once celebrated nunnery : and some of these
have very lately been demolished for the sake of the materials !

108 THE PARK.
more important objects were obliterated, more extra
ordinary events consigned to oblivion.
Curiosity will be eager to be gratified with an ac
count of her bower, her labyrinth, and her bath ; cir
cumstances so universally known by report, and so
intimately connected with the scenes described. Of
the bower, there is neither authentic history, nor
drawing extant * ; of the labyrinth, some traces of
its foundation were discovered, and various utensils,
coins, and antiquities dug up and presented to Lady
Diana Spencer by the workmen, when the ground
was levelling by order of the first Duke of Marlbo
rough. The spring that must have supplied her bath re
tains her name ; and truly is
" Health to the sick, and solace to the swain."
It is situated in a small dell in the side of the hill, a
little to the westward of the grand bridge, and a few
paces from the edge of the lake. It gushes from an
artificial aperture, in the stones which line the cavity
on the north to a considerable elevation, with a fall
of nearly two feet, and a copiousness and equability
in every season, that few springs exceed. Scarcely
has it smoothed its ruffled wave, before it is received
into a capacious bath, about five feet deep and twenty

* In Antony a Wood's Study, W. 276, there is, however, a descrip
tion of Rosamond's Bower, and Woodstock Park, supposed to be writ.
ten by Mr. Aubrey.

THE PARK. 109
square, lined at the bottom and on the sides with
free-stone, and fenced with iron palisades. The water
of the bath is so pellucid and tranquil, that it reflects
objects like a mirror ; and for this purpose poets and
lovers have assigned it to beauty, which seems to be
indigenous here.
The facing over the fall is formed of a dusky co
loured stone ; the layers terminate abruptly on the
sides with the resemblance of a ruin ; and the whole
has the air of antiquity. To increase this appearance,
it bears many marks of the universal passion — the
love of fame. This has prompted numbers to carve
the initials of their names, and the year of their ex
ploit, with characteristic rudeness, and with a seem
ing zeal for their preservation. In one part we see
names which now, perhaps, have no other memorial ;
in another, recent efforts to impress a remembrance,
by obliterating what former engravers have left as
monuments of their existence. Thus it is in life : in
the most important transactions, in the greatest per
formances !
In a solitude like this, where the subject and the
scene are apt to inspire pensive thoughts, such traces
are not unpleasing : they tend to promote one general
effect, to which every circumstance here contributes ;
the love of contemplation. The hawthorn, mixed
with woodbines and other shrubs, overhangs the
spring, and forms a deep irregular shade ; the gad
ding ivy, and its congenerous plants, clasp the stones
that line the precipice, and fill up the fissures and
I

110 THE PARK.
interstices with their roots. Behind rises a grove,
which is rapidly thickening its gloom, and assisting
to render the spot more sequestered. The birds carol
around ; the nightingale, perhaps, pours forth her
plaintive notes ; and the dashing of the water unites
with the reverberations of the neighbouring echo, to
cherish a soothing melancholy. When this mood has
been indulged till relief becomes desirable, we may
turn to the palace. The aspect on this hand is more
cheerful and open. The sombre, however, still pre
vails, particularly at even ; it is inseparable from the
season and the spot. The following inscription was
penned under its influence, on a report that an urn
was intended to be erected over the spring : if the
verse should be neglected, let the moral be remem
bered ! INSCRIPTION.
Ye fair ! who tread in pleasure's mazy round,
Where many a snare, and many a gulf is found ;
For once reflect! with pensive step draw nigh,
And let this moral fix attention's eye :
" Birth, titles, fortune, — all that fate can give,
Or the most favour'd of your sex receive ;
Youth's blooming grace, ev'n Rosamonda's charms,
All that delights, or captivates and warms,
Weigh'd in the seals 'gainst virtue, are but vain —
Link'd with fair virtue, deathless wreaths obtain ;
While vice lives only in the roll of fame,
To wake your pity, or to warn from shame."
At Woodstock Palace, Henry II. received the
homage of Malcolm, King of Scotland, and Rice,

THE PARK. Ill
Prince of Wales, in 1164; and likewise conferred
the honour of knighthood on Jeffrey, surnamed Plan-
tagenet, his second son by the fair Rosamond. The
nuptials of the Lady Ermengard, daughter of Richard
Viscount Beaumont, cousin to Henry, with William,
King of Scotland, were also celebrated here with the
utmost magnificence, for four successive days. They
were married in Woodstock Chapel.
In 1275, Edward I. called a parliament at this
place ; and here Edmund, his second son, was born,
from thence called Edmund of Woodstock : as well
as Edward, eldest son of Edward III. commonly
known by the appellation of the Black Prince, whose
early valour and brilliant exploits, joined to the most
polished and conciliating manners, endeared his me
mory to every lover of his country. This gallant
prince, who died at the age of forty-six, is said once
to have resided at the mansion, now known by the
name of Old Woodstock House, belonging to Balliol
College, and long the residence of the writer of this.

Illustrious Edward ! on thy natal hour
With partial aspects shone each heavenly power;
Peace from her olive throne triumphant sung,
And fierce Bellona many a prean rung;
The gentle arts with approbation smil'd,
And war's wild offspring hail'd their favourite child.
O! fitted, or to shine in martial pride,
When hostile legions press on every side ;
Or give to science all her native charms,
And conquer minds, by reason's nobler arms !
Fain would the muse a lasting wreath entwine,
To deck with vivid bloom thy brow divine :
l2

112 THE PARK.
Fain would she sing of Poictiers' tented field,
And with the lily grace thy sable shield ;
But nature's charms recal her wild career,
And fix her, ardent, to a meeter sphere !

Woodstock is likewise the birth-place of Thomas,
the sixth son of Edward III. surnamed in history
from the site of his nativity.
To enumerate all the remarkable incidents relative
to Woodstock Park, would be to compose a large
volume.* It was long the scene of regal pomp and
festivity, and productive of various interesting events,
many of which are, no doubt, carried down the
stream of time, and forgotten.
Here Henry in. in 1 238, narrowly escaped assas
sination, by a person named Ribbaud, who suffered
for his meditated treason ; here John Hastings, Earl
of Pembroke, was slain, at a Christmas festivity, in
the reign of Richard II. ; and here an attempt was
made on the life of Henry VIII. by Wm. Morisco.
Chaucer, the father of English poetry, spent some
of his happiest hours at this place ; it even contends
for the honour of his birth, and unquestionably he
has made it classic ground. The park was the scene
of his favourite wanderings ; and many of the rural
descriptions in his poems are borrowed from thence.

* The author of this Description has for several years been making
collections for a History of Woodstock. Whether it will ever appear
before the public, must depend on health, and other favourable circum
stances; but he most respectfully solicits, from antiquaries and others,
such information as may forward his design.

cHaucer's HOUSE. 113
In his poem of the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, we
may trace his morning walk from his own house
down the vale, through which the Glyme used to
wind within its narrow banks, before it was expanded
by art. In his Dream, too, he describes the Bower
as a white castle, with its sylvan accompaniments of
maples. If we make allowance for the rust of age,
and the obsolete modes of diction that now obscure
his works, no one has ever equalled him in the vari
ous walks of poetry he adopted.
Chaucer's house was situated at the right angle of
the area before the triumphal gate, which has been
previously mentioned : the site is at present the pro
perty and residence of Mr. Prior ; and though only
a few insignificant remains of antiquity are now to
be traced, the traveller of taste never fails to eye the
spot with a fond enthusiasm : he venerates the resi
dence of original genius, and blames that spirit of
improvement which has obliterated vestiges, that
ought to have been deemed sacred by every Briton.
Several writers of reputation mention a huge folio
volume of his works, in manuscript, chained to a
reading desk in his house, and which is said to have
been extant in the beginning of the last century, or
the end of the preceding : that it once existed, we
have no doubt ; but the precise time when it disap
peared, and what has become of it, are totally un.
known. Akenside's inscription for a statue of the ancient
bard, though his memory does not stand in need of

114 THE PARK.
such frail memorials, nor is likely to obtain them,
will not be improperly subjoined, nor appear inappli
cable to the purpose for which it was intended.

Such was old Chaucer, such the placid mien
Of him who first with harmony informed
The language of our fathers. Here he dwelt
For many a cheerful day. These ancient walls
Have often heard him while his legends blithe
He sang of love or knighthood, or the wiles
Of homely life, through each estate and age
The fashions and the follies of the world
With cunning hand portraying. Though perchance
From Blenheim's towers, O stranger thou art come,
Glowing with Churchill's trophies, yet in vain
Dost thou applaud them, if thy breast be cold
To him, this other hero, who in times
Dark and untaught, began with charming verse
To tame the rudeness of his native land.

With regard to the former celebrity of this place,
we cannot forbear adding, that the Princess Elizabeth
was confined in the Manor House by her cruel sister,
Queen Mary, under the care of Sir H. Beddingfield :
and that her life was once in the most imminent
danger, from a fire that broke out under the room
where she slept ; but whether this fire was kindled
intentionally, or merely through accident, remains
among the number of undeveloped mysteries with
which the path of antiquity is strewed.
Yet cannot birth, or fortune's powerful claim,
Beauty's fair form, or virtue's heavenly flame,
From life's fell cares their lov'd possessors free,
Else, why, Eliza, frown'd the fates on thee?

THE PARK. 115

Why dropp'd the tear, as from the lattice seen,
The rural maiden, singing, cross'd the green ?
But that you felt the crime of being great,
And grac'd a prison, ere you rul'd a state !

While here, she is reported to have shed tears on
seeing a milk-maid pass before the window of her
prison, singing, and to have expressed a wish that she
had been born to a situation as humble and as happy ;
a circumstance on which the elegant and plaintive
Shenstone has beautifully enlarged.
Hark to yonder milk-maid, singing
Cheerly o'er the brimming pail ;
Cowslips, all around her springing,
Sweetly paint the golden vale.
Never yet did courtly maiden
Move so sprightly, look so fair !
Never breast with jewels laden
Pour a song so void of care !
Would indulgent heaven had granted
Me some rural damsel's part!
All the empire I had wanted
Then had been my shepherd's heart.
The following verses were written with charcoal
on the window-shutter of the room where she was
confined. They are the composition of a great Queen,
and derive their chief merit from this peculiarity.
Ob, fortune ! how thy restless wavering state
Hath fraught with care my troubled witt,
Witness this present prison, whither fate
Could bear me, and the joys I quit.

116 MANOR HOUSE.
Thou causedst the guiltie to be losed
From bandes wherein are innocents inclosed ;
Causing the guiltles to be straites reserved,
And freeing those that death well deserved ;
But by her malice can be nothing wroughte ;
So God send to my foes all they have thoughte.
Elizabethe Prisoner.
Anno Dom. 1555.

During the time of the eivil wars, as previously
mentioned, the Palace, or Manor House, as it was
called, suffered irreparable damage, by a resolute
siege it sustained ; but was still further injured by
the mercenary and rapacious disposition of the usurper
and his dependants, by whom part of the very mate
rials were exposed to sale in 1653.* The commis
sioners who assembled here in 16495 by order of the
Rump Parliament, to survey the royal property, and
who had taken up their residence in the king's apart
ments, were terribly alarmed by supposed spirits,
which incessantly disturbed their repose during their
stay : but the real actor in this farce was one Joe
Collins, since called the Merry Devil of Woodstock,
though at that time dignified with the epithet of the
Just. This man, it seems, was a royalist, and anxious
to impress the commissioners with an idea of super-

* It appears that Lieutenant-General Fleetwood obtained a grant of
the Manor House and its appertenances, which he sold for one thousand
pounds. Several pictures from the collection here are still dispersed in
the neighbourhood. The taste of Charles I. in the fine arts is universally
acknowledged.

ROMAN VILLA. 117
natural agency against their proceedings ; and,
perhaps, their own consciences aided the imposture.
A circumstance of this kind would have been
deemed unworthy regard, had it not been to introduce
a remark on the triumph of true philosophy, and the
decline of superstition. A learned professor in the
University, in the reign of Charles II. fills several
pages of his book, on the Natural History of Oxford
shire, with a detail of the pranks of this imaginary
demon, among other reveries as ridiculous, which at
this period would disgrace the belief of anility : Mr
Widdowes, likewise, who was then Minister of Wood
stock, kept a diary, in which the story of the appari
tions is related* This silly work was published in
1660, and with it a short survey of Woodstock, taken
from ancient authors.

Three miles from Blenheim, near the village of
Northleigh, at a short distance from the river Even
lode, and about half a mile to the right of the turn
pike road from Woodstock to Witney, is a
ROMAN VILLA.
In the year 1813, the Rev. W. Brown, rector of
an adjoining parish, accidentally observed several
fragments of Roman bricks and tiles, which induced
him to cause researches to be made on the spot where

118 ROMAN VILLA.
they were found. The foundations of an extensive
building were soon traced, but the examination was
deferred till the year 1815, when a large room and
several passages were discovered, ornamented with
tesselated pavements, evidently of Roman construc
tion. On this being communicated to the Duke of
Marlborough, to whom the land belonged, his Grace
gave orders for continuing the work, and caused a
house to be built on the spot, for the residence of a
person to prevent the depredations of the antiquary,
who might probably prefer seeing a part of these
relics of the Romans in his own collection, to a view
of them on their original site. The building appears
to have been a Roman villa, originally forming a
quadrangle of about two hundred feet square, and
which had for ages past been entirely buried in the
earth. A plan of this villa is published by Mr. Hake-
will, describing the form, dimensions, &c. of the dif
ferent apartments discovered up to December, 1816 ;
the principal room is covered over to prevent its
receiving injury by exposure to the weather, as is also
a large warm bath, in excellent preservation ; the flues
round it remain, and also the pillars of the hypocaust,
and even part of the pipe which conveyed away the
water. Other baths have been found in different
parts of the building. The room, No. 1, in Mr.
Hakewill's plan, richly merits the attention of the
curious. It has a tesselated pavement, with a hypo
caust under it, which clearly points out the mode of
warming the apartments of the Romans. Its dimen-

MANOR OF WOODSTOCK. 119
sions are thirty-three feet by twenty. In another
covered room near this, a quantity of wheat, turned
black by age, is preserved, which was found in one
of the apartments. Several broken articles of earth
enware have been discovered, and one small urn, very
little damaged. The manner of laying the tesselated
pavement is clearly perceptible : it differs totally from
our method of paving, and is well calculated to pre
serve the rooms from the dampness of the earth. A
few silver, and many other coins, have been dug up,
which are carefully preserved ; the latest is a coin of
the Emperor Arcadius, who died in 408. The Ro
mans left Britain entirely in the year 448 : therefore,
the remains of this building must be at least 1 387
years old, and probably of much higher antiquity, as
the Romans were in possession of the greater part of
this country nearly four hundred years.

A few abridged extracts from the ancient customs
of the Manor of Woodstock, taken in the reign of
Edward VI. will still farther gratify curiosity, from
their intimate connexion with the subject of this
manual. To the Manor and Honour of Woodstock belong
seven demesne towns or villages, Hordley, Wootton,
Combe, Stonesfield, Handborough, Bladon, and Old
Woodstock, the tenants of which are discharged from

120 MANOR OF WOODSTOCK.
tolls in all fairs and markets, and possess other pecu
liar privileges.
There are three several kinds of land in this Manor,
demesne or bury land, free land, and customary land,
the latter of which descends to the youngest son or
daughter, as heir.
The free tenants and customary tenants in the de
mesne towns have interchangeably the right of com
mon in all waste grounds within the limits of the
Manor, and also in Ensham, Fawler, Charlbury,
Northleigh, Ditchley, Kiddington, and Glympton ;
but, from the different enclosures that have taken
place, by Act of Parliament, this privilege is now
wholly lost ; nor has any allotment been made in
lieu of it, except in one or two instances.
The customary tenants of Handborough, Combe,
and Bladon, were bound to cut and make hay of all the
grass growing in Woodstock park, for which every
township was to have sixpence in money, or two
gallons of ale. The customary tenants of Hordley,
by tenure, were to sweep and make clean all the
chambers in the Manor House, as often as the King
visited it, for which they were to receive two castes
of bread and two gallons of ale ; and the owner of
the Manor Place of Combe, in like manner, was to
clean all jakes and privies within and about the King's
Manor of Woodstock.
The Lord of Staunton Harcourt, by tenure, was
to find four browsers in Woodstock park, at any time
when the snow should fall and lie for the space of

MANOR OF WOODSTOCK. 121
two days, in order to furnish provisions for the deer ;
and every browser was allowed to carry to his lodg
ing, as long as the snow lasted, a billet of wood,
every night, the length of his axe-helm, and to be
borne on his axe's edge. The King's bailiff of the
hundred of Wootton was to give warning of the
browsers being wanted, by blowing a horn at the
Manor gate of Staunton Harcourt, on which he was
to be served with a caste of bread, a gallon of ale,
and a piece of cheese ; and the said Lord of Staunton
Harcourt, as a compensation, was to have one buck
in summer, and one doe in winter, out of Woodstock
park. The tenants of the seven demesne towns and the
town of Woodstock were used and bound to drive
and keep the deer for view, as often as the King
should come to his Manor of Woodstock, or his Ma
jesty should order his game to be viewed by any
other person, without any fee or reward.
The customary tenants of the demesne towns were
bound to carry the hay made on the meads in
Woodstock park to the King's barn, for the support
of the deer in winter ; for which they were to have
seven pence a day, and to be allowed, on going home,
to carry off as much hay as would lie in the bed of
their carts.

122 WOODSTOCK.

WOODSTOCK.

The ancient borough of Woodstock, which gives
the title of Viscount to the Duke of Portland, is situ
ated on an eminence near the banks of the Glyme,
and enjoys every local advantage that can contribute
either to health or pleasure. The amenity of the
situation, indeed, can only be exceeded by the purity
of the air, which is so great, that valetudinarians
have frequently been recommended to breathe it.
Here Woodstock, erst amid the sylvan scene,*
Lifts her high brow, and, happy, smiles serene :
Woodstock, belov'd by Dian's huntress train,
What time those shades confess'd the goddess' reign !
Woodstock was a borough by prescription, long
before it was incorporated, as appears by the rolls of
Parliament. In 1453, it received its first charter
from Henry VI. This has been confirmed, enlarged,
or altered, by Edward IV. Henry VII. Edward VI.
Elizabeth,! James I. and Charles II. The charter

* It was formerly within the limits of Wychwood Forest.
t The charters of Edward VI. and Elizabeth were recovered, in Au
gust, 1813, by the writer of this, then, for the third time, mayor of the
borough, from that oblivion and decay, in a damp cellar, to which, it
appears, they had, many years ago, been ignorantly or carelessly con
signed. They are now deposited, with the other existing charters, in
the muniment chest of the Corporation, and have received less injury
than might have been expected. A beautiful portrait of Queen Eliza
beth, in black and white, adorns the initial of her charter.

WOODSTOCK. 123
granted by the latter is that under which the Corpo
ration now act, and is almost the counterpart of that
of New Windsor. A restrictive charter forced upon
the borough, in the fourth of James II. was soon
after set aside by proclamation, when the former
franchises were restored.

Abstract of the principal privileges and exemptions
of the borough of New Woodstock, from the charter
of Charles II.
I. The Corporation, under the style and title of
the Mayor and Commonalty of the borough of New
Woodstock, is to enjoy the same liberties and free
customs which the burgesses of New Windsor use
and enjoy.
II. A Mayor and a sergeant at mace are to be
chosen, annually, on the Monday before the feast of
St. Matthew the Evangelist ; at which time two
Chamberlains are also to be elected from the Com
mon Council, to serve for the next year.
III. The Corporation and Freemen are exempted
from toll in all boroughs, vills, and demesnes,
throughout the whole kingdom of England.
IV. The Mayor has the power of settling all mat
ters within the borough, of fixing the assize of bread,
and regulating the markets.
V. The Corporation is to consist of five Aldermen,

121 WOODSTOCK.
one of whom is to be Mayor, a High Steward, a
Recorder, two Chamberlains, and a Common Clerk,
with fifteen capital Burgesses, making in all twenty-
five. VI. The Corporation assembled in their Guildhall
have power to make laws and regulations for the
better improvement of the vill, which are to be
binding. VII. The Mayor may hold a court of record on
Monday, from fortnight to fortnight — now held only
on the first Monday of every month.
VIII. Aldermen and Common Council are to
serve for the term of their natural lives, unless they
resign, or are removed for ill behaviour.
IX. The High Steward, Recorder, and Common
Clerk, to be approved by the King, before they can
act. X. The Magistrates to have the power of trying
all and every kind of felony, witchcraft, enchantment,
&c. but not to determine any matter touching the
loss of life or member, without the King's special
commission. XI. The Mayor, Aldermen, High Steward, and
Recorder, to be justices of the peace ; and under a
warrant signed by any two of them, persons accused
of crimes may be committed to the county gaol ; and
no county justice can interfere within the borough.
XII. It may and shall be lawful for the Mayor
and Commonalty to choose two Burgesses to serve
in Parliament.

WOODSTOCK. 125
Though this privilege is now given optionally, yet,
by a former charter, this borough was specially ex
empted from being compellable to send two members,
out of royal grace and favour, on account of the ex
pense attending the exercise of this franchise, when
representatives were paid for their service in Parlia
ment. By the Reform Act, passed June 7th, 1832,
the old borough of New Woodstock was included in
Schedule B, and consequently returns only one mem
ber ; and by the Boundary Act, passed July 11, 1832,
the elective franchise was extended to the neighbour
ing parishes and hamlets, viz. the parishes of Bladon,
Begbrook, Shipton-on-Cherwell, Hampton Gay, Tack-
ley, Wootton, Stonesfield, Combe, and Handborough ;
the parish of Kidlington, except the respective ham
lets of Gosford and Watereaton ; the hamlet of Old
Woodstock, and Blenheim Park.
The Duke of Marlborough is High Steward of
this borough.
The parish or chapelry of New Woodstock, in
cluding the adjacent hamlet of Hensington, both ap
pendant to Bladon, contains about two hundred and
fifty houses or separate tenements, and upwards of
fifteen hundred inhabitants.
Within these few years, the town has been much
improved; and, in many essential* respects, it is im
possible to find a more desirable residence, especially
for persons retiring from the bustle of business with
moderate fortunes ; or for those who wish to live on a
limited income, in a comfortable, unostentatious man-
K

126 WOODSTOCK.
ner. The beauty and facility of the promenades offer
advantages superior to the command of a carriage in
most other places, as the whole town is so compact,
that the most remote part of it is within five minutes'
walk of Blenheim Park. The situation is one of the
most central in the kingdom, the roads are good, the
means of conveyance numerous, and rent, rates, and
taxes, under all circumstances, peculiarly reasonable.
The seat of Pryse Pryse, Esq. and the Rectory,
both commanding beautiful views over the lake and
the northern part of the park, are universally ad
mired for their situation.
Among the ornaments, however, of this place,
whether viewed in a moral or an architectural light,
may be reckoned the neat Alms Houses, near the
entrance of the borough from Oxford, erected and
liberally endowed, in 1797? by Caroline, Duchess of
Marlborough, for six poor widows.
Power, riches, and grandeur, are little to" be en
vied, except when they are exerted to promote the
less fortunate meritorious, and to relieve the dis
tressed. It is the exercise of those qualities alone
that can render them amiable in the eyes of others,
or a real pleasure to their possessors. May this
example of beneficence serve as an incentive to
others ! *

* For wishing to preserve the following Sonnet, as an humble tribute
of justice, truth, and gratitude, the author trusts he shall find an apo
logist in every liberal mind. Flattery to the living never disgraced his
pen ; nor will it be supposed that a few wild flowers strewed on the

WOODSTOCK. 127
The immunities and franchises conferred on this
borough, by the favour of our ancient sovereigns,
will be seen, from the foregoing Abstract, to be very
considerable. Queen Elizabeth, in particular, was a
great benefactress ; she bestowed on the Mayor and
Commonalty four shops, and thirteen cottages, for
merly belonging to the dissolved chantry of our Lady,
founded in Woodstock chapel by King John in 1210 ;
and also confirmed the grant of Henry VI. of a cer
tain marsh, called The Pool, or Le Pool, now con-

grave are grateful to the dead, though they may serve to evince the
affectionate recollection of the feeling heart. The Duchess of Marlbo
rough has long been beyond the reach of praise or blame ; but till the
last pulse of life her memory will be cherished by me, and her good
deeds ought to be recorded to posterity, from which the impartial meed
is certain.

To HER GRACE CAROLINE DUCHESS of MARLBOROUGH,
On her building and endowing the Alms Houses at Woodstock.
In deep affliction's rigid science bred,
Bent by calamity's oppressive rod,
How many sink the meek submitted head,
Hopeless of help — save only from their God !
The widow weeps — the orphan droops unseen,
And fortune's favourites stand with cold averted mien.
Yet know, the selfish heart that cannot feel,
On wealth or power, for pleasure leans in vain ;
While social sighs and kindred tears reveal
A bosom form'd for rapture's blissful reign.
'Tis this, O Marlbro'l that will gild thy name,
Thy heart delight in retrospective view —
Gain virtue's meed— give pure and lasting fame,— -
" That want and widow'd age, a refuge find in you."
K 2

128 WOODSTOCK.
verted into fertile meadows, which let for about four
guineas per acre.
The Town Hall is a stately modern stone edifice,
standing in the most favourable situation for effect ;
and was built at the sole expense of the late High
Steward. The Market House, which has recently undergone
a complete repair, is likewise eligibly situated, and
sufficiently adapted for its destination. The markets
are well supplied with provisions ; and a considerable
share of business, especially in the corn trade, is
usually transacted on Tuesdays, the principal market
day. A Friday's market, the grant of Elizabeth, is
too much neglected, both for the real benefit of deal
ers and of the inhabitants. From causes of this kind,
towns frequently date their decay ; for markets,
which naturally excite competition, soon encourage
combination by disuse. It is every where the duty
of magistrates to guard against this.
The Church, or Chapel, more properly speaking,
has a modern front, and a handsome new tower, with
a ring of eight well-toned bells, and a set of melodi
ous chimes, which go every four hours, and play a
different tune for every day in the week. It contains
an organ, and is well pewed, and well attended.
It is of ancient foundation, has long been paro
chial, and is presented to, with the rectory of Bladon,
of which it was originally considered as an occasional
chapel of ease, probably served by the chantry priest ;
though, from the change of times and circumstances,

WOODSTOCK. 129
and the loss, alienation, or neglect of endowments, it
is now become very onerous and expensive to the
rector of the mother church.
Notwithstanding the ancient celebrity of the place,
there are few monuments deserving notice, if we ex
cept that to the memory of Dr. King, Dean of Raphoe,
and his son, Captain James King, the friend and
coadjutor of Captain Cook, in his last voyage, part
of the history of which was written at Woodstock :
nor are the inscriptions remarkable for elegance, with
the exception of that on the small tablet, which records
a former rector, Dr. Thomas King, Chancellor of
Lincoln, which is equally simple and beautiful.

The coat armour, crest, and supporters, of the
town of New Woodstock, were thus blazoned by
Richard Lee, Esq. in 1574.
Arms. — In a field, gules, three stags' heads ca-
bossed, and the stock of an oak tree in base, argent,
a border of the second charged with oak leaves, vert.
Crest. — On a helmet waper issuing out of a coro
net ducal, an oak tree, proper.
Supporters. — Two wild men with their clubs pro
per, mantled gules, doubled, argent.
Motto.—" Ramosa Cornua Cervi"— the branching
horns of the stag.
A Grammar School was founded and endowed
here, in 1585, by Mr. Corn well, a native of the

130 WOODSTOCK.
place, under a royal licence from Queen Elizabeth.
The Corporation are trustees. The master must be
a person in holy orders. The school-room, which is
large and lofty, received a complete repair in 1811 ;
and every thing has been done on the part of the
Corporation, which the funds allowed, to render this
useful establishment a real benefit to the place.
The inns furnish the best entertainment and accom
modation to travellers of every description. These
are the Bear, Marlborough Arms, Angel, &c. Lying
on the great Irish road, the inns are full of business
at all seasons of the year ; though more particularly
during the spring, summer, and autumn, when Blen
heim presents its diversified and ever-varying attrac
tions to visitors, whether on purpose or incidentally.
As a proof of the facility of its communication with
most parts of the kingdom, especially with the metro
polis, more than a dozen stage and mail coaches pass
and repass daily to and from London, besides a Wood
stock coach, called the Blenheim, which starts at eight
every morning, and returns at five in the afternoon,
through Wycombe. Waggons and vans are likewise
frequent ; also a Woodstock waggon thrice a week.
The principal manufactures are polished steel and
gloves, and in both branches the peculiar excellence
of their fabrics has gained them distinguished pre
eminence. In one respect, they have left the fable of
Midas no longer an object of wonder : at their touch,
the old nails of a horse-shoe are converted into articles
of infinitely greater price, according to their weight,

WOODSTOCK. 131
than the purest gold. A chain made here, weighing
only two ounces, was sold in France for £170 ster
ling. The manufacture of polished steel was intro
duced here by a Mr. Metcalfe, about the beginning of
the last century ; but it has now much declined, on
account of the cheapness of the Birmingham and Shef
field wares, though in elegance still unrivalled ; and,
with more prosperous times, will, it is to be hoped,
revive. The glove trade, however, is tolerably flourish
ing, and employs many hands. Upwards of five
hundred dozen pairs are made weekly in the town
and the neighbouring villages. The delicacy of the
leather and the neatness of the workmanship distin
guish the Woodstock gloves and fancy articles from
all other.
About forty years ago, in pulling down an old
building near the church, several pieces of ancient
coin were found, and, among them, two of the Em
peror Vespasian, with this inscription round the head,
in characters very legible and neat : Vespasianus
Rom. Imp. Aug. On the reverse, Judaea capta.
Indeed, Roman coins are still casually found here.
That nation indubitably had several stations in this
vicinity, and probably one at this place ;* Alecti
Castra, or Alchester on the Akeman, was less than

* On digging in a place called the Back Acre, in 1810, behind the
premises belonging to the Rev. Dr. Mavor, in Oxford-street, Woodstock,
a small urn, evidently of Roman manufacture, was discovered, in a bed
of ashes, within two or three feet of the surface, and is now in his
possession.

132 WOODSTOCK.
ten miles distant ; and the tesselated pavements near
Stonesfield, and at Northleigh, as well as the Camp
on Callow Hill, are unquestionable vestiges of that
once potent people. But this is not intended as a
work on antiquities — if it were, the field is open, and,
probably, may yet be traversed,
Before Decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers. Byron.
Yet who would prefer exploring the earth for urns,
rusty coins, and half-obliterated castrametations, to
the contemplation of recent art and blooming nature,
arrayed in their gayest dress, and captivating with
their brightest charms ?

To the botanist, the vicinity of Woodstock presents
a rich variety of plants, many of which are either
curious or scarce. The Cherwell, the Glyme, and. the
Evenlode, each produces its appropriate aquatics. In
Blenheim park, too, and its immediate environs, the
general stores of Flora are extremely extensive and
various. From giant oaks, that wave their branches dark,
To the dwarf moss that clings upon their bark. Darwin

WOODSTOCK. 133
The Orchidese, in particular, seem the denizens of
the soil : very few of the family are wanting.
To enumerate the various plants to be found in this
delightful neighbourhood would far exceed the limits
of this work. We must, therefore, refer our readers
to a most useful and interesting Work, entitled " The
Flora of Oxfordshire and its Contiguous Counties
(comprising the flowering plants only), arranged in
easy and familiar language, according to the Linnssan
and Natural Systems ; preceded by an Introduction
to Botany ; with illustrative plates. By the Rev.
Richard Walker, Fellow of Magdalen College, Ox
ford."

ITINERARY

OF SOME OF THE

MOST FREQUENTED ROUTES FROM WOODSTOCK.

No. I.

To London, by Wycombe.

Oxford . . .
Wheatley Bridge
Tetsworth . .
Stoken Church
West Wycombe
High Wycombe
Beaconsfield .
Uxbridge . .
Hayes . . .
Tyburn Turnpike

Miles from
Woodstock. 8
14
2026

6e
6 7
5| 8|
3
12

3338|4750
62

RFMARKS.
Though this road is four miles
nearer the metropolis than the fol
lowing, it is less frequented by the
traveller for pleasure. The views
from Stoken Church hills are cer
tainly very fine ; but, after passing
Wycombe, the road runs, indeed,
along a rich champaign, but unin
teresting country, to London, with-
. out either near or remote objects to
amuse the eye.

No.' II.

To London, by Henley.

Oxford 
Nuneham Courtenay
Dorchester . . .
Benson ....
Nettlebed . . .
Henley-on-ThamesHurley ....
Maidenhead . .
Salthill . .
Slough ....
Colnbrook . . .
Cranford Bridge .
Hounslow . .
Brentford . . .
Hyde Park-corner

8
5 13
4 17
3 20
11 31
9 40
5| 45£
4 49J
7± 57
H 66§
This road, in many places, runs
parallel with theThames,or catches
views of its meanders. Both at
Henley and Maidenhead we cross
this prince of British streams by
noble modern stone bridges; and
every where the landscape is agree
ably diversified by hill and dale,
woods, plains and splendid edi
fices ; among which latter, Wind
sor Castle towers with n proud
pre-eminence.

136

ITINERARY.

No. III.

To Reading.

8

13

21

9

30

6

36

OxfordVVallingford
PangbournReading

The Thames accompanies the
traveller the greatest part of this
road, which every where presents
the most enchanting features, and
in some places is almost unrivalled.
Reading is one of the most plea
sant county towns in the kingdom.

No. IV.

To Birmingham and Holyhead.

Enstone . .
Chapel House .
Shipston-on-Stour
Stratford-on-Avon
Henley-in-Arden Hockley .
Birmingham . .
WolverhamptonShiffnal • • .
Watling-street
Shrewsbury .
Oswestry . .
Llangollen
Corwen . .
Kernioge Mawr
Betws Ycoed
Capel Cerrig .
Bangor Ferry
Gwyndu . .
Holyhead . .

1
10llf 7 5
10±13*124 6J
12*"Im 10 13
11 4
1413|124

6
10
2038* 43|5467| 8086 1
99
«6i129139 152
163
167 181
194|
207

Few tours of pleasure could be
selected that comprise more pleas
ing or important objects ; Strat
ford, the birth-place of Shaks-
peare; Birmingham, the " toy
shop of Europe ;" and the sublime
scenery of North Wales, succes
sively claim regard, and beguile
the length of the journey.

No. V.

To Worcester and Aberystwith.

Enstone ....

G

Chipping-Norton .

5

11

Moreton-in-Marsh .

8

19

Broadway . . .

8*

27f

Bengeworth(EcesAow)

6*

33

Pershore ....

7

40

Worcester ....

9

49

Bromyard .

14

63

Leominster . . .

12

75

Presteign ....

14

89

New Radnor . . .

8

97

Rhayadr ....

18*

ns|

Cwm Ystwith . .

14*

130

Aberystwith .

15

145

If the former route is calculated
to give an agreeable picture of
North Wales, this is no less fa
vourable for a display of some in
teresting parts of Sooth Wales ;
besides affording the traveller an
opportunity of seeing the beautiful
city of Worcester. Aberystwith
is much frequented as a sea-bathing
place. No. VI.
To Bath, by Cirencester.

Witney .
Burford
Bibury .
CirencesterTetbury .
Petty France
Cross Hands
Bath . .

7
10 7
10 8!
3
12

15
25 32
42
50*
53* 05*

Persons from London who annu
ally travel the Bath road, as it is '
called, beautiful as the country
must be allowed to be through
which it passes, in time become
tired of the same uniform round;
and, therefore, to vary the scene,
many either go or return by Wood
stock and Oxford. The difference
in the distance is more than com
pensated for, by the novelty and
magnificence of the objects which
this route displays.

ITINERARY.

137

No. VII.

No. X.

To Bristol.
Cross Hands, as to Bath I
Sodbury . . ¦ •
Bristol 

3
11*

53*
56* 68

Health, pleasure, and business,
all in their turn, conduct to Bris
tol, which once ranked as the se
cond commercial town in Britain.

No. VIII.
To Cheltenham and Gloucester, by
Stow-on the-Wold.

Chapel House . . .

10

Stow-on-the-Wold . .

9

19

Cheltenham ....

18

37

Gloucester . . .

10

47

During the summer, the resort
of genteel company to Cheltenham
has been regularly increasing ; the
numbers now are about 5000 in
the season.

No. IX.
To Cheltenham and Gloucester, by
Burford.

8

7

15

9

21

7

31

6

37

10

47

Witney . .
BurfordNorthleach
Frogmill Cheltenham
Gloucester

This road, though it has been
longest established, and is most
frequented, in point of distance is
the same as the preceding from
Woodstock.

To Leamington Spa, Coventry, and
Litchfield, by Banbury.

Deddington ....

10

Adderbury ....

Banbury . . . .
6
16
14
30
Leamington Spa, 8 miles
Warwick, 2 miles
13
43
Coleshill . ...
12
55
Litchfield . . .
15
70
The road through Banbury is
now much frequented, since Lea
mington Spa has risen into such
high reputation, and is geDerally
excellent. Leamington, which bids
fair to rival Cheltenham, lies about
8 miles from Southam, and conse
quently is 38 miles from Wood
stock by this route ; by Stratford -
on-Avon, through Warwick, it is
41 miles ; and by Halford Bridge
it is 39 miles. Coventry and
Litchfield are too well known to
require a description of their at
tractions.
No. XI.
To Southampton.
Oxford 
8
Abingdon
6*
14*
East Ilsley . .
11
25*
Newbury . .
0*
35
Whitchurch . . .
13
48
Winchester ....
13
61
Southampton
12
73
No route can be more delightful
than this. Winchester, South
ampton, and its vicinity, and the
Isle of Wight, with its charming
scenery, are of themselves suffici
ent to allure every person of taste
lo visit t.hem.
138

ITINERARY.

14*

6175* 84*

No. XII.
To Gosport.
Winchester, No. XI.
Wickham ....
Gosport 
The pride and defence of Britain,
the royal navy, which has one of
its principal stations at Portsmouth,
adjoining Gosport, will always oc
casion a frequent communication
between the midland counties and
this place. No. XIII.
To Northampton and Peterborough.

Middleton Stoney
Brackley
Towcester . .
Northampton .
Wellingborough
ThrapstoneOunrtle . . .
Peterborough .

j2
11 9
105
10* 8
13£

8
17*
28*37±
4858J66 1
80"

Neither business nor pleasure
renders this road much frequented ;
yet it is not uninviting, nor desti
tute of attractions. Northampton
is a very fine town ; and the coun
try for many miles along this route
is rich, and well cultivated, if not
picturesque. No. XIV.
To Buckingham and Cambridge.

Middleton Stoney
Buckingham . . .
Stoney Stratford . .
Newport Pagnell
Bedford ....

15 8
6
13*

8
233137
501

St. Neots . .

K*

63

18

81

Next to Blenheim, perhaps no
place in the kingdom is better
worth visiting than Stow, the seat
of the Duke of Buckingham, which
lies in the vicinity of the town of
that name.

No. XV.
To Salisbury and Weymouth.

To Newbury, A^. XI.
Andover ....
Salisbury ....
Woodyates Inn . .
Blandford . . .
Dorchester . . .
Weymouth . . .

16
17
10 12*
16 8

35
51
6878
90|
106*
114*

Salisbury, with its splendid ca
thedral, and the wonders of Stone-
henge, which lie in its vicinity,
are very attractive objects in an
excursion to Weymodth.

No. XVI.
To Biighlon, by Windsor and
Tunbridge Wells.

Slough, No. II.
Windsor
Kingston
CroydonFarnborough
Sevenoaks
Tunbridge .
Uckfield LewesBrighton

45
47 5970
78
85 98
112
120128

Travellers to Brighton from
this part of the country generally
pass through London : but when
it is considered that for a little ad
ditional expense they can visit
Windsor and Tdnbridge by the
route proposed, and at the same
time avoid the hurry and noise of
the metropolis, many without doubt
will be inclined to prefer it.

No. XVII.

To Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Stratford-on-Avon, No.IV.
Warwick 
Leamington Spa . , .

31 3941

ITINERARY.

139

The road through Banbury and
Kineton, and likewise by Halford
Bridge, is about two miles nearer.
Warwick Castle is one of the finest
habitable castles in the kingdom ;
and Leamington Spa and the beau
ties of the environs are too well
known to require pointing out. —
(See No. X)
No. XVIII.
To Aylesbury.

Bicester
Aylesbury

16

11
27

This road is little frequented ;
but it is by no mean9 destitute of
attractions in fine weather.

No. XIX.
To Derby and Sheffield, by
Birmingham.

Birmingham, No
Sutton Coldfield
Litchfield . . .
Burton-on-Trent
Derby . . .
Peacock Inn
Chesterfield . .
Sheffield . . .

IV.

10
10$11 14 10$12$

54
61$71$ 82 93
107
117$130

The elegance of Litchfield, the
picturesque beauties of Derbyshire,
and the manufactures of Sheffield,

will render this an interesting route.
It also communicates both with the
westand the north roads to Scotland.

No. XX.
To Liverpool, by Birmingham and
Litchfield.

Litchfield, os to Derby
Wolseley Bridge
Sandon ....

9$ 8

71$ 81
89

Trentham ....
Newcastle-under-LyneCongleton ....
Knutsfield . . .

9$ 3
12$
14

98$
101$ 114 128

Warrington . . .

12

140

Prestcot ....

10

150

Liverpool ....

8

158

In population, Liverpool is the
third place in the kingdom, and in
foreign commerce it is only inferior
to London. No. XXI.

To Manchester.
Warrington, as above
Irlam  "9$
Manchester ... 8$

140 149$
158

Manchester, though it is not even
a borough town, contains more
inhabitants than any place in the
kingdom, except London. — Its cot
ton manufactures are the wonder
of the world.

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