S T O 
614 
a variety of sacred subjects and armorial bearings are repre¬ 
sented. In a woody recess near the temple are some good 
statues by Rysbrach, of the seven Saxon deities, who gave 
names to the days of the week, on each of which is a Saxon 
inscription. The temple of Friendship is built in the Tuscan 
style of architecture. The Pebble Alcove and Congreve’s 
monument were executed from designs by Kent. Such are 
the principal objects in these famous gardens, where, accord¬ 
ing to Walpole, the rich landscapes occasioned by the multi¬ 
plicity of temples and obelisks, occasion both surprise and 
pleasure, sometimes recalling Albano’s landscapes to our 
mind, and oftener to our fancy the idolatrous and luxurious 
vales of Daphne and Tempe. The house is situated on an 
eminence rising gradually from the lake to the south front, 
which forms the principal entrance. It covers a large extent 
of ground, measuring from east to west 916 feet, of which the 
central 454 include the principal apartments. These range 
on each side of the saloon, and communicate with each other 
by a series of doors placed in a direct line. The south or 
garden front is composed of a centre, two colonades, and 
two pavilion wings, the same height as the centre. The side 
has a rusticated casement, and is adorned with a great number 
of Corinthian and Ionic columns and pilasters. This front 
was wholly designed by Lords Cobham and Camelford. The 
saloon is perhaps one of the finest apartments of the kind in 
England, presenting a combination of objects, beautiful and 
sumptuous. The expenses of this apartment amounted to 
12,000/. Its shape is oval, measuring 60 feet long, 43 
broad, and 56| high. The hall was designed and painted 
by Kent. The state drawing-room is 50 feet by 32, and 22 
high. It contains a collection of well-executed pictures, most 
of which are by the best old masters. The state gallery, 
dressing-room, bed-chamber, and closet, are all formed on a 
suitable scale of extent, and elegance of embellishment. The 
pictures in them include portraits of all the celebrated cha¬ 
racters in English history and literature. The library con¬ 
tains 10,000 volumes, many of which are very rare and 
valuable, with a great collection of unpublished manuscripts. 
The manor of Stowe appears to have been purchased into the 
Temple family in 1560, by Peter Temple, Esq., and the 
original mansion erected by that gentleman. Sir Peter 
Temple, a distant descendant, inclosed about 200 acres of 
ground for a park, which he stocked with deer. Sir 
Richard, the next heir, rebuilt the manor-house. On his 
death the estate devolved to his son, who was created Baron 
Cobham in 1714, and Viscount Cobham in 1718, with a 
collateral remainder of both titles to his second sister Hester, 
wife of Richard Grenville, Esq., of Watton, in this county. 
Lord Cobham died in 1749, and was succeeded by the above 
lady, who was then created Countess Cobham. The title of 
Marquis of Buckingham was obtained in the year 1784. 
When in the possession of Lord Cobham, Stowe was visited 
by the most distinguished poets and literati of the age; and 
Pope, Chesterfield, Hammond, Lyttleton, Pitt, and West, 
were among its frequent guests. 
STOWELL, a hamlet of England, in Gloucestershire; 2 
miles west-south-west of North Leach. 
STOWELL, a parish of England, in Somersetshire ; 5 
miles south-south-west of Wincanton. 
STOWEY.-^-l. A parish of England, in Somersetshire; 3 
miles south-south-west of Pensford.— 2. Stowey (Nether), 
a town and parish of England, in Somersetshire, with a 
weekly market on Tuesday, and a fair on the 18th September. 
The church is a handsome building; and near it is a spring, 
which has the property of encrusting, with the appearance 
of stone, pieces of wood, &c., thrown into it. It had for¬ 
merly a castle, of which no vestige now remains, except the 
ditch; 8 miles west-north-west of Bridgewater, and 149 
west-by-south of London. —3. Stowey (Over), another 
parish in the same county, about a mile distant from the 
foregoing. 
STOWFORD, a parish of England, in Devonshire, be¬ 
tween the rivers Lid and 'I hrushel; 10j miles south-west-by 
vest of Oakhamptqp. 
S T It 
STOWGURSEY, a parish of England, in Somersetshire; 7 
miles from Bridgewater. Population 1208. 
STOWTON, a parish of England, in Devonshire; 3 miles 
from Exeter. 
STOYESTOWN, a post township of the United States, in 
Somerset county, Pennsylvania. 
STOZINGEN, Lower and Upper, a small town and 
village of the west of Germany, in Wirtemberg; 14 miles 
north-north-east of Ulm. The former has 1300, the latter 
only 400 inhabitants. 
STRA, a small town of Austrian Italy, in the Venetian dis¬ 
trict of Padua. 
STRABANE, a populous town of Ireland, in the county 
of Tyrone, pleasantly situated on the river Foyle. Before 
the union it sent two members to the Irish parliament; 40 
miles north-west of Armagh, and 11 south-south-west of 
Londonderry. Lat. 54. 50. N. long. 7. 19. W. 
STRABANE, a township of the United States, in Wash¬ 
ington county, Pennsylvania. 
STRA'BISM, s. [strabisme, Fr.; strabismus, Lat.] A 
squinting; act of looking asquint. 
STRABISMUS, [SroaSia-fjcc^, Gr.] Squinting. 
STRABO, a celebrated geographer, was born at Amasia, 
a city of Pontus, but in what year we cannot ascertain. 
From his acquaintance with C. Gallus, prefect of Egypt, 
and from his having composed his geography in the fourth 
year of the emperor Tiberius, we may inler that he flou¬ 
rished in the century B. C.; and Blair assigns his death to 
the year 25 before the commencement of the Christian era. 
It appears, that he studied grammar and rhetoric at Nyssa, 
and that he was instructed in the principles of the various 
sects of philosophers in several of the most celebrated schools 
of Asia. He owns himself a Stoic, and he followed their 
dogmas. Of the general course of his life, little is known; 
but he appears to have been a great traveller, and to have 
visited most of the countries which he describes. Besides 
his Geography, contained in seventeen books, which was 
written in his advanced age, and which is highly valued, he 
was the author of some historical works, which have been 
lost. His Geography, though from the time in whiqh he 
lived it must be imperfect and erroneous in various parti¬ 
culars, is very useful for the illustration of the history and 
writings of the ancients ; more especially as he intersperses 
many philosophical remarks, which indicate a cultivated 
mind, and many short narratives, which serve to extend 
our acquaintance with the history and antiquities of remote 
periods. 
Several editions of a Latin version of Strabo appeared be¬ 
fore the Greek text was printed. Of the Greek and Latin 
editions, the first that claims commendation for its erudition, 
was that of Is. Casaubon, fob, Genev. 1587, and Paris, 1620. 
That of Janson ab Almeloveen, cum notis variorum, Amst., 
2 vols. fob, 1707, is much esteemed, though not very cor¬ 
rect. An Oxford edition has also appeared, under the in¬ 
spection of Mr. Falconer. Fabr. Bib/. Grtec. Gen. Biog. 
STRACHAN, formerly called Strathaen, a parish of 
Scotland, in Kincardineshire, lying on the north side of the 
Grampian ridge. 
STRACHUR and Straluchan, a united parish of Ar¬ 
gyllshire, about 18 miles long, and from 3 to 6 broad, lying 
on the south side of Loch Fyne. Population 1129. 
STRADA (Famiano), a celebrated Italian writer, bom 
at Rome in 1572, who entered into the society of Jesus in 
1592, and became professor of eloquence in the Roman 
college, where he resided till his death in 1659. His most 
famous work was a “ History of the Wars in the Low Coun¬ 
tries,”’ in Latin, consisting of two decades: the first, com¬ 
prising the events from the death of Charles V. to the year 
1573, and published in 1632; and the second, as far as 
1590, published in 1647. Strada’s work was criticised with 
some severity, by Cardinal Bentivoglio; and it is allowed to 
have been more the production of a rhetorician than of an 
impartial and correct historian. The style, however, is ani¬ 
mated, apd the language pure, though defective in the good 
taste 
