force an act of the usurper Cromwell, that children ought not to be baptized, and about marriages by justices of peace. But it is here observed, that not one in this parish complied with it, but christened the children in the church; and no persons bedded before they were solemnly wedded in the church." This parish contains about 900 acres, principally disposed in uninclosed arable land, called Moreton Fields. The soil is a stiff heavy clay. About two miles north of Buckingham is the maguificent mansion and celebrated gardens of STOWE, THE chief ornament of the county, and principal seat of George Grenville Nugent Temple, Marquis of Buckingham, The earliest account of the manor is contained in Domesday Book, which states, that in the reign of Edward the Confessor, its value was 60s. and that it was held by Robert D'Oyly and Roger Ivory of the Bishop of Baieux. When the Bishop was dispossessed of his lands in the year 1088, this manor was ob tained by the above persons for themselves, and afterwards divided between them. Stowe was retained by D'Oyly, who founded a church in his castle at Oxford, and endlowed it with, this estate; but on the removal of his foundation in 1129, be bestowed it on the canons of Oseney Abbey, in whose possession it remained till the capricious, Henry the Eighth, on the dissolution of the religious houses, erected the abbey into a cathedral, and settled it on the new Bishop; but the foundation being removed to Christ Church, it was given by Edward the Sixth to that College. Browne Willis, in his History of Buckingham, states, that it was afterwards, on a vacancy of the see of Oxford, granted by Queen Elizabeth to three gentlemen, who first leased, and then conveyed it to John Temple, Esq. in the year 1592; but we have been The Temple family deduce, their maternal descent from Leofric,, Earl of Mercia. They appear to have been first settled at Temple Hall, in Leicestershire; though they possessed lands in this county as early as the reign of Henry the Sixth, man. been assured by the present noble possessor, that it was pur chased into this family by Peter Temple, Esq. in 1560; and that the original mansion was soon afterwards erected by that gentleSir Peter Temple, a distant descendant, inclosed about 200 acres of ground for a park, which he stocked with deer from Wicken Park in Northamptonshire. Sir Richard, the next inheritor, 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 Wotton, in this county. Lord Cobham died in 1749, and was succeeded by the above lady, who was created Countess Cobham a month after her brother's decease. Thus the family of the Grenvilles obtained possession of the mansion, estate, and titles. The present owner was created Marquis of Buckingham in the year 1784. Stowe, when beheld at a distance, appears like a vast grove, interspersed with columns, obelisks, and towers, which apparently emerge from a luxuriant mass of foliage. The gardens obtained their distinguished celebrity from the alterations effected by Lord Cobham, under whose direction the groves were planted, the lawns laid out, many of the buildings erected, and the corridors and wings added to the north front of the house. The gardens were began when an affected regularity was the mode; when straight paths, canals, avenues, and fountains, were considered as the greatest beauties; and the formalities of art studiously displayed in every shape of monstrous deformity. The suffering eye inverted nature sees; Stowe partook of the general incongruity, and the graceful variety of nature was tortured into stiffness and absurdity. This state of things, however, is now changed. The gardens have been altered with the times, and the natural beauty of the situation has been embellished by the hand of art. The The first professional artist employed to lay out the grounds was Bridgeman, whose plans and drawings of their features at that period are still in the possession of the Marquis. Some of the absurdities left by Bridgeman were removed by Kent, who was consulted in the double capacity of architect and gardener, and to this "Father of modern gardening" is Stowe indebted for many of its distinguished ornaments. "Mahomet," says Mr. Walpole, "imagined an Elysium; but Kent created many." Several other amateurs and artists have successively directed alterations here, and most of them have left some specimens of their respective partialities. While the formal mode of gardening prevailed, Stowe led the fashion, and many aped its incongruities; yet, to the honor of the taste and judgment of this country, the formalities of system are nearly abolished; and nature, ever beautiful, and ever varying, is justly considered as the proper archetype to be imitated in modern pleasure grounds. Some of the most elegant and correct writers have classed the varieties of scenery under three peculiar and distinct characters; the beautiful, the picturesque, and the sublime. Few demesnes in the kingdom can boast the possession of all these characters; yet the two first, and a very considerable portion of the latter, may be found at Stowe, where the beautiful is apparent in its parterres, elegant buildings, and flower gardens; the picturesque, though The celebrated Launcelot Brown was originally employed here in a very humble situation, whence he rose by degrees to be head gardener, in which station he continued till 1750. It is generally supposed, that his first specimens of landscape gardening were made at Stowe; but we are assured that Lord Cobham restricted him to the kitchen and flower gardens. Though his Lordship would not permit him to try experiments on his own grounds, yet he recommended him to the Duke of Grafton, at Wakefield Lodge, in Northamptonshire, where he directed the forming of a large lake. This laid the foundation of his fame and fortune; for the undertaking being successfully executed, he was presented, through the medium of Lord Cobham, with the honorable situation of head gardener at Windsor, and Hampton Court. He now became very popular, and his advice was regularly sought by those gentlemen who were disposed to make alterations in their parks and pleasure grounds. Previous to leaving Stowe, he married a young woman of the village, named Mary Holland, |