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GARDENS OLD AND NEIY. 



Naples, and in the gardens of 



botli cities heautifi.il Corinthian 



and composite capitals will 



often be noticed employed as 



flower -pots and sundials. 



There were some magnificent 



specimens in the Ludovisi 



Gardens at Rome, which the 



cupidity of modern speculation 



lias wantonly destroyed and 



replaced by streets of hideous 



buildings. There was nothing 



in the world to equal the 



loveliness of these gardens, 



which were literally the direct 



successors of those of Sallust, 



whose site they occupied. 



They were the delight of 



poet and painter, who 



haunted them, to enjoy their 



manifold beauties, and the 



glorious views of the Eternal 



City which they commanded. 



The wanton and greedy 



destruction of the Ludovisi 



Gardens was one of the 



most monstrous acts of 



vandalism committed in Italy 



in this century. But beautiful 



works of ancient art, such as the cisterns and column caps 



we have spoken of, though diverted from their original uses, 



are not, we may say, misapplied in garden adornment, as 



the examples at Kingston Lacy will show. 



Another notable feature in the grounds is a large Egyptian 

 sarcophagus of granite, and a still more striking object rising 

 skyward is the tall and stately obelisk of red granite, brought 

 from Phite by Belzoni in 1819, and erected in its present 

 position at Kingston Lacy. The venerable monolith stands 

 within full view of the house, and in a place chosen by the 

 great Duke of Wellington, who laid the foundation of the 

 pedestal on August i/th, 1827. 



The garden at Kingston Lacy has thus a very distinguished 

 character. In spacious dignity, the broad sweep of emerald 

 lawn, the far-spread shadow of noble trees, the attraction of a 

 beautiful park, it has few equals. Quaintness is there, too, 

 with a more wistful charm, perhaps, in the moss-grown sundial 

 and fine armillary sphere ; but wherever we go at this 



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charming seat there is something to appeal to the sense of 

 beauty, and much to satisfy the sense of fitness. We may 

 walk from the stately terrace to pass through the scented 

 avenue of glorious limes, whose boughs sweep the turf, and 

 may linger in the delightful hollow of the cool fernery deep in 

 its welcome shade. There are yew hedges, too, if not so 

 extensive as in some places, and the climbing plants cling to 

 the balustrade, and the garden is full of flowers. 



What more shall we ask? As the years go by we find 

 greater richness and beauty arising in flower effect in our 

 English gardens. New forms are introduced, while the old 

 hardy flowers, improved, still hold their sway. Kingston Lacy 

 is not wanting in any of these. The present owner, who was 

 high sheriff of his county in 1880, is a great lover of the 

 garden, and has recently added a fine range of iilass-houses 

 extending over 6ooyds. He has added much to the charm of 

 the place, and its condition is all that could be desired. 



is this of house and garden 

 a seat ranking high among 

 those in the West of England. 

 At Kingston Lacy are 

 kept the keys and seal of 

 Corfe Castle, that ancient 

 place so closely connected in 

 its later fortunes with the 

 family of Bankes, and of 

 which Mr. Bankes was the 

 last mayor in i8Si. He is 

 also "lay Bishop" ot Wim- 

 borne Minster, with which 

 his family has many associa- 

 tions. The north porch there 

 was erected to the memory of 

 the late Right Hon. G Bankes, 

 M.P. for the county, and the 

 beautiful east window of the 

 minster, with its lancet triplet 

 and shafts of Purbeck marble, 

 was filled with old Italian glass 

 by Mr. W. J. Bankes. The 

 present Mr. Bankes of King- 

 ston Lacy is, by royal charter, 

 Lord High Admiral of Purbeck, 

 an office of great antiquity 

 in relation to Ihe defences 



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