DAWN OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING 231 



" Brackley. 14 Aug : 1724 Friday night, 

 7 a clock. 



" Dear Daniel, 



" Yesterday we saw Lord Cobham's house, which within 

 these five years has gained the reputation of being the finest 

 seat in England. . . . The gardens by reason of the good 

 contrivance of the walks, seem to be three times as large as they 

 are. They contain but 28 acres, yet took us up two hours. It 

 is entirely new, and tho' begun but eleven years ago, is now 

 almost finished. From the lower end you ascend a multitude 

 of steps (but at several distances) to the parterre, and from 

 thence several more to the house, which, standing high, 

 commands a fine prospect. One way they can see 26 miles. 

 It is impossible to give you an exact Idea of this garden, but 

 we shall shortly have a graving of it. It consists of a great 

 number of walks, terminated by summer houses, and heathen 

 Temples of different structure, and adorned with statues cast 

 from the Anticks. Here you see the Temple of Apollo, there 

 a Triumphal Arch. The garden of Venus is delightful ; you 

 see her standing in her Temple, at the head of a noble bason of 

 water, and opposite to her an Amphitheater, with statues of 

 Gods and Goddesses ; this bason is sorounded with walks and 

 groves, and overlook'd from a considerable heigth by a tall 

 Column of a Composite order on which stands a statue of 

 Pr : George in his Robes. At the end of the gravel walk leading 

 from the house, are two heathen Temples with a circle of water, 

 2 acres and a quarter large. In the midst whereof is a Gulio 

 or pyramid, at least 50 foot high, from the top of which it 

 is designed that water shall fall, being by pipes convey'd 

 thro' the heart of it. Half way up this walk is another fine 

 bason, with pyramid in it 30 foot high, and nearer the house 

 you meet a fountain that plays 40 foot. The cross walks end 

 in vistos, arches and statues, and the private ones cut thro' 

 groves are delightful. You think twenty times you have no 

 more to see, and of a sudden find yourself in some new garden 

 or walk, as finish'd and adorn'd as that you left. Nothing is 

 more irregular in the whole, nothing more regular in the parts, 

 which totally differ the one from the other. This shows my 

 Lord's good tast, and his fondness to the place appears by the 



