PREFACE. ix 



such as those not generally known to the public, from 

 their being more buried in the bosom of the country : 



' Et dont V aspect imprime, et comnande I'honneur.' 



With their venerable decorations of ancient splendour, 

 their gardens, and their portraits ; many of beauties 

 whose cheeks ' bloom in after-ages,' and where I have 

 indignantly seen many rich treasures of painting 

 mouldering on their walls. What I then collected 

 was, many years ago, destroyed or parted with; 

 for those whom I most wished to have pleased have 

 long since been shrouded in the silence of the tomb : 



c Each in his narrow cell for ever laid. ' 



One viewed such neglected and venerable seats with 

 regret at the decay of so many appendages of the 

 grandeur, or happiness, of former times ; one trod the 

 ground where many eminent and worthy men resided 

 with pensive emotions of respect (so Johnson felt 

 when viewing the alcove and garden at Welwyn), and 

 as the * inaudible and noiseless foot of time ' has long 

 since extinguished these ancient and, some of them, 

 magnificent houses, with their hospitable establish- 

 ments, one can only reflect on what Madame de 

 Sevigne says : ' La vie est courte, c'est bien tot fait ; 



