s you descend, the gardens,
village, and river near below. There is a peculiar charm in these steep
woods, where the tops of some trees are level with the eye, while the
branches of others are overhead. As the paths go down the slope they lose
their garden-like trimness among bracken and brambles. An oak fence
separates the grounds of Pembroke Lodge from the surrounding park.

It was indeed a perfect home for a statesman. When wearied or troubled with
political cares and anxieties, the fresh breezes, the natural beauties, and
the peace of Pembroke Lodge often helped to bring calm and repose to his
mind. What better prospect can his windows command than the valley of the
Thames from Richmond Hill, the view Argyll showed Jeanie Deans, which drew
from her the admission "it was braw rich feeding for the cows," though she
herself would as soon have been looking at "the craigs of Arthur's Seat and
the sea coming ayont them, as at a' that muckle trees." Certainly no home
was ever more appreciated and loved than Pembroke Lodge, both by Lord and
Lady John Russell and their children. Long afterwards Lady John wrote:

In March, 1847, the Queen offered him Pembroke Lodge for life, a
deed for which we have been yearly and daily more grateful. He and
I were convinced that it added years to his life, and the happiness
it has given us all cannot be measured. I think it was a year or
two before the Queen offered us Pembroke Lodge that we came down
for a few days for a change of air for some of the children to the
Star and Garter. John and I, in one of our strolls in the park, sat
under a big oak-tree while the children played round us. We were at
that time often in perplexity about a country home for the summer
and autumn, to which we could send them before we ourselves could
leave London.... From our bench under the oak we looked into the
grounds of Pembroke Lodge, and we said to one another that would be
the place for us. When it became ours indeed we often thought of
this, and the oak has ever since been called the "Wishing Tree."
[31] ... From the time that Pembroke Lodge became ours we used only
to keep the children in town from the meeting of Parliament till
Easter, and settle the younger ones at Pembroke Lodge, and we
ourselves slept there Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays with as
much regularity as other engagements allowed. This obliged us to
give