AMPTHILL PARK 81 



wishes to consult him on the proportions. He is 

 determined to erect it at Ampthill, and I have 

 written the following lines to record the reason : 



"'In days of old, here Ampthill's towers were seen, 

 The mournful refuge of an injured queen ; 

 Here flowed her pure but unavailing tears; 

 Here blinded zeal sustained her sinking years. 

 Yet Freedom hence her radiant banner wav'd, 

 And love aveng'd a realm by priests enslav'd. 

 From Catherine's wrongs a nation's bliss was spread, 

 And Luther's light from Henry's lawless bed.' 



"I hope the satire on Henry VIII. will make 

 you excuse the compliment to Luther, which, like 

 most poetic compliments, does not come from my 

 heart." 



When Walpole saw the cross he sent another 

 letter to his friend, from which the following may 

 be quoted : 



" I have lately been at Ampthill and saw Queen 

 Katherine's Cross. It is not near large enough 

 for the situation and would be fitter for a Garden 

 than a Park ; but it is executed in the truest and 

 best taste Lord Ossory is quite satisfied." 



Walpole's remarkable correspondence with Lady 

 Ossory extended from 1769 to 1797, and gives a 

 marvellous insight into the manners of the day. 

 He addresses her in a most stilted, formal way, but 

 with all his formality he repeats gossip hardly of 



