KNOLE 273 



hour of his death Dorset had the world of 

 fashion and letters at his feet, captivated by his 

 wit. 



Congreve, who visited him on his death-bed, 

 declared that " Dorset slabbered more wit dying 

 than most men living." 



Without doubt the graceless, graceful, witty 

 Charles is the most interesting figure among the 

 many in the Sackville Annals, though his ances- 

 tor, Thomas Sackville, holds a superior place in 

 literature. Scarce a mention is there in the maze 

 of history of a Garden or Park at Knole. How- 

 ever, in 1709 four publishers, Mortier, Midwinter, 

 Overton, and Smith, brought out the " Britannia 

 Illustrata," a series of elaborate views of the great 

 country seats of England. Very fortunate it was 

 that these and other designs were made, as other- 

 wise no record would have remained of the beauties 

 that the ruthless hands of Kent, Brown, and others 

 were to wipe out as if from a slate. 



Knyff made the drawings, and they were en- 

 graved on copper by John Kip, who was born at 

 Amsterdam in 1652, and came over to England 

 in the reign of Charles II. Valuable as these 

 engravings are, the idea sometimes suggests itself 

 that Knyff perhaps improved upon the originals. 

 In any case, his work gives a wonderfully clear 

 conception of what the Gardens of that period 

 were like. 



