HATFIELD HOUSE 201 



There are few places in England so absolutely 

 untouched by the spoiling hand of fashion as the 

 quaint, fascinating little square, called the " Privy 

 Garden," or "Queen's Garden," which lies quite 

 near the Cardinal's old Palace. The very rooms 

 used by the Princess Elizabeth are said to have 

 been in what now remains of the old House, 

 and she may have looked down from her window 

 on wet winter days, longing for the weather to 

 allow her the enjoyment of her daily walk there, 

 and doubtless sent her maids to gather the first 

 flower bold enough to brave windy March. 



If Chaucer be the father of English poetry, 

 Bacon is the parent of the English essay ; 'mid a 

 life filled to the brim with stormy politics, and thick 

 with intrigues, he, the great philosopher, found time 

 to write one of the best remembered and the 

 oftenest quoted essays on Gardens. The little 

 Privy Garden at Hatfield is planted somewhat as 

 described in the language of that essay, only in a 

 simpler fashion, not so " prince-like." Bacon 

 declares " The Garden is best to be square, en- 

 compassed on all the four sides with a stately 

 arched hedge." There must also be "green," 

 4 'because nothing is more pleasant to the eye than 

 green grass kept finely shorn" ; and fountains, "for 

 they are a great beauty and refreshment " ; also, 

 "you are to frame some of them (the alleys) like- 

 wise for shelter, that when the wind blows sharp 



