114 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



collecting material for the new house which stands 

 on the site of the old monastery. 



This immense building has a frontage of a 

 thousand feet and possesses every excess of the 

 modern florid Gothic style, abounding in towers, 

 turrets, and battlements. The chapel which lies 

 by the side of the house is considered to be Wyatt's 

 masterpiece. The last Earl of Bridgewater was 

 as eccentric as the last Duke ; he is but remembered 

 as the originator of the famous " Bridgewater 

 Treatises," he having left in his will ^"8,000 to be 

 paid to the author of the best treatise on the 

 Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God as manifested 

 in the Creation. The sum was divided into eight, 

 and among those who received a part of it were 

 Dr. Chalmers, Sir Charles Bell, and Whewell. 



In the lovely old Hotel Egerton in the Rue Saint 

 Honor6, Lord Bridgewater spent many years in 

 absolute seclusion. A little crowd of dogs and 

 cats dressed up as men and women shared his 

 meals, sat at his table, daily drove out in his car- 

 riage, and imitated all his doings. Perhaps he had 

 early in life learnt that the heart of a dog is more 

 faithful than that of most human beings. 



This eccentric old gentleman died surrounded by 

 his dumb friends, leaving a most extraordinary will, 

 bequeathing everything to Viscount Alford, the 

 eldest son of the Earl of Brownlow, but stipulating 

 that if Lord Alford or his successor did not in a 



