194 A BOOK OF ENGLISH GARDENS 



short distance from London, is something not easily 

 gained nor to be lightly forsworn. But to Walpole 

 everything which shut out " Nature " was an abhor- 

 rence, and with his witty pen he lustily preached 

 the new fashion in Gardening. Once again very 

 sadly the old cynic mentions Ham the pretty 

 niece is dying. " From my own windows I see 

 the tall avenues and chimneys of Ham House, 

 where my poor niece lies languishing and dying." 

 How well he describes the views of Ham which 

 peep through the trees ! 



Much later, Miss Mary Berry, the faithful friend 

 and champion of Horace Walpole against Macaulay's 

 fiery denunciations, writes in her journal : " We went 

 to Ham House ; the house and Gardens are in old 

 style; that is to say, the style of Charles II. I 

 was much pleased with the house and its situa- 

 tion, surrounded as it is by large avenues of trees, 

 with its terraced Gardens and its great Bowling 

 Green, and it needs only to cut down a few trees, 

 to enjoy a most smiling scene, yet as perfectly quiet 

 and secluded as if the house were placed in the 

 furthermost county from London." 





