MARLBOROUGH HOUSE 



is the motto inscribed on an old sword in Warwick Castle, and I 

 like it well ; for surely unless it be drawn from pure motives of 

 patriotism unsullied by ambition in support of treaty obligations, 

 or in defence of the defenceless it were better not drawn at all. 

 John Churchill's fame has suffered a partial eclipse, obscured by 

 that of soldiers as great as he and its lustre was dimmed even 

 in his lifetime by his avarice. Yet that Blenheim was indeed " a 

 famous victory " we all agree. 



" But what good came of it at last ? quoth little Peterkin." 



Little or none, and " Edward the Peacemaker " remains a prouder 

 title than " Marlborough the Conqueror." 



Therefore forgetting for a time the great Duke and his Duchess, 

 forgetting Queen Adelaide, and Prince Leopold, and their con- 

 nection with Marlborough House, we will concentrate our atten- 

 tion on the more recent history of the place, associated as it is with 

 our late King. 



" This is a little garden, and the Queen uses it a great deal," 

 wrote to me General Sir Dighton Probyn in a courteous note 

 when, with Her Majesty Queen Alexandra's gracious permission, 

 he made the necessary arrangements for me to draw it. 



And no doubt, regarded as the pleasure-ground of a royal resi- 

 dence, and since in this world we bring most things to the test 

 of comparison, it is small ; yet the space covered by Marlborough 

 House and its garden, is nearly four acres and three-quarters, 

 though much of this is occupied by courtyard and carriage drive. 

 The actual dimensions according to Mr. Beavan, are 542 feet 

 east and west, and 364 north and south. It is rectangular in shape, 

 and can be scanned in its entirety at once, there being no cunning 

 devices by which it is made to appear .larger than it really is : 

 there are no walks, shut in by yew and cypress, and screened by 

 evergreen oak ; walks which twist, and turn, and double back, as 

 at Chiswick House and elsewhere. And just as there has been 

 no attempt at landscape gardening, so also are there no signs of 

 the still earlier topiary work, of which Duchess Sarah probably 

 saw rather too much in the reign of Dutch William. 



I believe the garden to be substantially the same as it was in 

 the days of Queen Anne and the Georges, and that such changes 

 as have been made have not materially altered its general appear- 



147 10* 



