in
France, _preached the shortest discourse I ever heard_; but what was
defective in the amplitude of his sermon, he had supplied in the
largeness and convenience of the parsonage-house."

At a short distance--less than a mile--is Althorp, the seat of the
Spencers, surrounded by a park of five hundred acres, of which one
of the gates opens near the church. There are oak-trees bordering on
the churchyard, which were growing at the time of the purchase of
the estate in the reign of Henry VII. Evelyn was often here a
delighted visitor. On one occasion he speaks of "the house or rather
palace at Althorp" (vol. i. p. 612). In another place he describes
it as "placed in a pretty open bottom, very finely watered, and
flanked with stately woods and groves in a park" (vol. i. p. 451).
Let me add that there is an engraving of Althorp at this time, by
the younger Vosterman, a Dutch artist.

[Illustration: THE WASHINGTON HOUSE, BRINGTON.]

[Illustration: INSCRIPTION OVER THE DOOR OF THE WASHINGTON HOUSE,
BRINGTON.]

There is one feature of the park which excited the admiration of
Evelyn, and at a later day of Mrs. Jameson, who gives to it some
beautiful pages in her "Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad." It
is the record of the time when different plantations of trees was
begun. While recommending this practice in his "Sylva," Evelyn
remarks, "The only instance I know of the like in our country, is in
the park at Althorp." There are six of these commemorative stones.
The first records a wood planted by Sir John Spencer, in 1567 and
1568; the second, a wood planted by Sir John Spencer, son of the
former, in 1589; the third, a wood planted by Robert, Lord Spencer,
in 1602 and 1603; the fourth, a wood planted by Sir William Spencer,
Knight of the Bath, afterwards Lord Spencer, in 1624. The latter
stone is ornamented with the arms of the Spencers, and on the back
is inscribed, "Up and bee doing, and God will prosper." It was in
this scenery and amidst these associations that the Washingtons
lived. When the emigrant left in 1657, these woods must have been
well-grown. It was not long afterwards that they arrested the
attention of Evelyn.

The Household Books at Althorp show that for many years the
Washingtons were frequent guests there. The hospitality of this s