portrait of the celebrated Earl of Essex, an undoubted. original picture, dated 1598, three years previous to his being beheaded (Zucchero), and from it at once enter the library, or breakfast-room. Here there is a superbly carved Elizabethan chimney-piece.

What are you about? You should not have touched so thoughtlessly that "brass inkstand," as you call it. It is actually a pix, or holy box, which once contained the host, and was considered "so sacred, that upon the march of armies it was especially prohibited from theft." We are told that Henry V. delayed his army for a whole day to discover the thief who had stolen one. You may admire the pictures as much as you please; they are odd and

hard-looking portraits to my eye; but they are historically curious, and clever, too, for their age. Could you only patiently listen to a discussion upon the characters of the originals of the portraits

that have hung upon these walls, or the volumes that have filled these shelves; you might gain a deeper insight into the workings of the human heart than, perhaps, you would care to be instructed by. There were in the next room

the dining-room into

Pix.*

which we may proceed when you please, for only by a sliding door between the library and dining-room are they separated-such pictures!

An unquestionable ‘Henry VIII.,' by Holbein ; a 'Queen Mary,' by Lucas de Heere, from the collection of the late Mr. Dent; and a glorious Elizabeth,' that had belonged to Nathaniel Rich of Eltham, who we know from the particulars of sale that were in the Augmentation

Office, was the purchaser of Eltham Palace, when disposed

* Now in the South Kensington Museum.

of by the Parliament after the death of Charles I.; and we also know from Strype's Annals of the Reformation, that Elizabeth visited Eltham and passed some days there in 1559, and that she made her favourite Sir Christopher Hatton keeper of the royal palace there.

6

You should not disturb those books; you will look in vain for the publication of George III.'s Illustration of Shakspeare,' and corrected in the autograph of the king for a second edition. How remarkable are the opinions entertained by His Majesty respecting Doctors Johnson and Franklin, and how curious are some of the notes! This book is the true history of his reign, and would be worth to us fifty black-letter Caxtons. Mr. Thorpe

Hill, and are of genuine Spitalfields damask. There is no

such damask to be had now. Eighty years ago were these curtains manufactured, and yet they are in most excellent condition. The greater portion of the Gothic oak panelling around us originally formed the back of the stalls in the beautiful chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford. During the late repairs this panelling was removed and sold. Much of it was purchased by the Marquess of Salisbury for Hatfield House, and the remainder Mr. Baylis bought. More of the oak panelling in the room, especially the elaborately-wrought specimens and the rich tracery work, have been obtained from Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, St. Mary's Coventry, and other churches.

carving; the canopy came from St. Michael's Church, Coventry, and in the niches are some fine figures of the

kings and queens of England. The fire-back is an interesting relic, as it is the original one placed in the great dining-hall of Burghley House, by Elizabeth's minister, whose arms are upon it, with the date 1575. The sideboard, with its canopy of oak, assimilates with the fitting of the room, and had upon its shelves a glittering display of ancient glass and early plate. Salvers and cups of singular forms and beautiful shapes arose proudly up, one above the other, with dishes of Raffaelle ware beneath them. I cannot help seeing that the steelclad knight, who keeps guard in a recess by the sideboard, attracts more of your attention. The effigy is an excellent suit of

character.

But

As for the other relics in the dining-room, I will only