His Majesty took great delight here, and made several improvements in the palace, while her Majesty amused herself at her royal dairy house, Merlin’s cave, the Hermitage, and the other improvements which she made in the park and gardens of this delightful retreat. Though the palace is unsuitable to the dignity of a King of England, the gardens are extremely fine, without offering a violence to nature; and Pope’s advice with respect to planting, may be considered as a very accurate description of the beauties to be found here. 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: Consult the genius of the place in all, That tells the waters or to rise or fall; Or helps th’ ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale, Or scoops in circling theatres the vale; Calls in the country, catches op’ning glades, Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades; Now breaks, or now directs th’intending lines; Paints as you plant, and as you work, designs. In short, almost every thing here has an agreeable wildness, and a pleasing irregularity, that cannot fail to charm all who are in love with nature, and afford a much higher and more lasting satisfaction than the stiff decorations of art, where the artist loses sight of nature which alone ought to direct his hand. On entering these rural walks, you are conducted to the dairy, a neat but low brick building, to which there is an ascent by a flight of steps; in the front is a handsome angular pediment. The walls on the inside are covered with stucco, and the house is furnished suitably to a royal dairy, the utensils for the milk being of the most beautiful china. Passing by the side of a canal, and thro’ a grove of trees, the temple presents itself to view, situated on a mount. It is a circular dome crowned with a ball, and supported by Tuscan columns, with a circular altar in the middle, and to this temple there is an ascent by very steep slopes. Returning by the dairy, and crossing the gravel walk, which leads from the palace to the river, you come to a wood, which you enter by a walk terminated by the Queen’s pavilion, a neat elegant structure, wherein is seen a beautiful chimney-piece, taken from a design in the addition to Palladio, and a model of a palace intended to be built in this place. In another part of the wood is the Duke’s summer house, which has a lofty arched entrance, and the roof rising to a point is terminated by a ball. On leaving the wood you come to the summer house on the terrace, a light small building with very large and lofty windows, to give a better view of the country, and particularly of that noble seat called Sion house. In this edifice are two good pictures, representing the taking of Vigo by the Duke of Ormond.