Stowe House 
we made a 
pilgrimage to 
every heathen 
temple in that 
province that 
they call a gar¬ 
den.” In the 
same year he 
visited Stowe 
in the c o m- 
p a ny o f the 
Princess Ame¬ 
lia, the daugh¬ 
ter of George 
II., and gives 
a very amus¬ 
ing descrip¬ 
tion of his 
sojourn there 
when writing 
to his friend, 
George Mon¬ 
tagu. It is, I 
regret, too 
long to be 
quoted here. 
Thus does 
Pope describe 
the Stowe gardens as they were in his day: 
“ To build, to plant, whatever you intend, 
To rear the column, or the arch to bend; 
To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot, 
In all, let Nature never be forgot; 
But treat the goddess like a modest fair, 
Nor overdress, nor leave her wholly bare; 
*************** 
Still follow sense, of every art the soul; 
Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole. 
Spontaneous beauties all around advance 
Start e’en from difficulty, strike from chance; 
Nature shall join you; Time will make it grow 
A work to wonder at—perhaps a STOWE! 
Without it, proud Versailles ! thy glory falls, 
And Nero’s terraces desert their walls: 
The vast parterres a thousand hands shall make, 
Lo! Cobham comes, and floats them with a lake.” 
Nor was Pope the only songster who sang the 
praises of the gardens of Stowe. Thomson, medita¬ 
ting his “Seasons,” often came thither to visit the 
kindly Maecenas of the eighteenth century, and 
doubtless after his delightful custom, wandered 
round the garden in his dressing-gown, and bit off 
the sunny side of his host’s peaches. To make 
amends for such heinous crimes he, doubtless, 
wrote the lines: 
”0 lead me to the wide extended walks, 
The fair majestic paradise of Stowe! 
Not Persian Cyrus on Ionia’s shore 
E’er saw such sylvan scene; such various art 
By genius fired, such ardent genius tamed 
By cool, judicious art; that, in the strife. 
All beauteous Nature fears to be outdone.” 
THE PALLADIAN 
BRIDGE 
The property and titles of Lord Cobham, who 
had no male heir, passed to his sister, Hester 
Temple, who was the wife of Richard Grenville, of 
Wootton. Her son Richard, created the first Earl 
Temple, was a distinguished statesman, being Lord 
of the Admiralty in 1756, and Lord Privy Seal in 
the following year. He did much to improve the 
house. He died at Stowe in 1779, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by his nephew, George Grenville Nugent 
Temple, Earl, another statesman, created Marquis 
of Buckingham in 1784. Under his direction, 
many of the stately chambers of Stowe were design¬ 
ed and completed. He was the brother of Lord 
Grenville, of Dropmore, who played a considerable 
part in the political history of the period. The 
owner of Stowe was restless and ambitious, and 
when writing to his brother would often break off 
in the middle of a political letter telling him that 
he was forwarding to him many thousands of young 
trees for his Dropmore estate. His son Richard, 
who married the daughter of the last Duke of 
Chandos, a lady of royal descent, was created 
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. The second 
Duke succeeded in 1839 to a magnificent property 
and a great name. He lived as a grand seigneur, 
entertaining in a most lavish style. Queen Victoria 
paid a memorable visit to Stowe in 1845, anc ^ 
was entertained most sumptuously. The Duke 
was a great collector and amassed a magnificent 
store of treasures of art and vertu. Stowe became 
21 
