Page:The house of Cecil.djvu/232

 202 THE CECILS

oil, iron, calico, spices, etc., the total value being estimated at 100,000. l

Salisbury's main occupation, however, outside his official labours, lay in building and laying out grounds, tastes which he inherited from his father. On the death of Lord Burghley the house and estate of Theobalds came into his possession, and though the house itself was actually com- pleted some ten years earlier, he continued to improve it and to beautify the estate so long as it remained in his hands. The large number of letters from his agents, which still exist, show that he devoted much time and thought to improving the grounds, making an artificial pond and lakes, and enlarging the property whenever possible. His extensive purchases and enclosures earned him some ill-will, and in 1605, Anthony Wingfield, writing to the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, sends the following " homely English epigram of the Contented Peer," no doubt intended for him :

" The Peer content, but not contented Peer, Saith still content, but never is content : For, search the wide world over far and near

None like this Peer to filthy lucre bent. Content, he saith, but you must thus expound him, Content to buy his neighbour's lands that bound him." a

This was one of many scurrilous lampoons circulated by the envious hangers-on of the

1 April, 1602 (Hatfield MSS., XII. 83, 98). 8 Lodge's Illustrations, III. 178.

�� �