XTbe JBavls of Xonabale 425 



sonnet. It is not, however, for his poHtical or social 

 virtues that the second Earl of Lonsdale will be 

 remembered, but as the builder of Lowther Castle, the 

 most imposing of all ' the stately homes of England.' 

 It was here that the present Earl entertained the 

 Emperor of Germany in princely state two years ago, 

 and His Imperial Majesty has left it on record how 

 profoundly he was impressed by the feudal grandeur 

 of the place and its surroundings. Built, in the four- 

 teenth-century style, of rose-tinted white stone, Lowther 

 Castle forms a most picturesque and striking object 

 from whatever side you approach it. The arched gate- 

 ways, the high embattled walls, the massive towers, 

 the spacious courts, have a dignity and distinction 

 which one seldom finds in imitations of the antique. 

 The noble turreted north front, 420 feet in length, is 

 unsurpassed by anything now left in England. And it 

 would be hard to match the glorious view of Penrith 

 Beacon-Hill, Saddleback and the distant mountains of 

 Scotland that meets the eye from the great terrace, 

 nearly a mile in length, which runs along the edge of a 

 deep limestone clifif overlooking the beautiful park, with 

 its huge old forest trees and herds of fallow deer. 

 Well might Wordsworth apostrophise it thus : — 



• Lowther ! in thy majestic Pile are seen 

 Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord 



With the baronial castle's sterner mien ; 

 Union significant of God adored 



And charters won and guarded by the sword 



Of ancient honour.' 



The mansion erected by the first Viscount Lonsdale 

 in 1685 was deemed a wonder of elegance, but one can 



