CHATSWORTH, DERBYSHIRE.

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of Hardwick Hall, and raised at Chatsworth a stately palace, which continued to be the chief residence of the Cavendishes until the commencement of the last century. Here Hobbes, the philosopher, found a retreat from the vanities of life, and here, cherished by his Mecænas, Lord Devonshire, he composed that treatise which has, at least, caused him to be had in remembrance.-Indeed, his practice is rather at variance with his precepts, for instead of discovering any instinctive hostility to his patron, he exhibited a warm sentiment of gratitude towards him, and, in a Latin poem, "De Mirabilibus Pecci," celebrates the praises of the foundress of the family's fortunes.

But splendid and replete with historical recollections as was this noble building, it gave place, at the close of the seventeenth century, to the more extensive and more classical structure which still occupies the same site, and was completed by the first Duke of Devonshire in the year 1708, sixteen years from its commencement. The mansion stands at the foot of a bold and lofty hill, clothed with wood, that forms a grand and picturesque object along the sloping side of the Derwent valley, while the opposite bank presents a contrast of sterility the most hopeless, its waste lands extending away to the wilderness of the High Peak of Derbyshire.

The mansion, "a miracle of art amidst the wonders of nature," is a sumptuous specimen of the Ionic order, of which it constitutes a perfect and enriched model; it was therefore the decision of pure taste and sound judgment that led the present noble proprietor, when he desired more enlarged accommodations for his guests and their retinues, to erect a detached building for the purpose, rather than violate the majestic unity of the original design of Talman and Wren. This spacious hospitium, built from the design of Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, is connected with the mansion by a range of galleries, and is capable of lodging several hundred persons. The extent of the whole façade, including the designs of Wren and Wyatville, is 557 feet.

The grand building, the original palace, forms a square of nearly two hundred feet, the principal front being turned towards the west, and extending along a terrace, that faces the Derwent, with a most imposing and dignified aspect. A handsome stone bridge of three arches, and adorned with statues by Cibber, spans the Derwent in its progress through the domain; and many beautiful examples of sculpture, by the same hand, lend their graces to the quadrangular court between the old and new constructions. The interior is also enriched by the beautiful carvings of Gibbon, of whom Walpole writes, "he gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various productions of the elements, with a free disorder natural to each species." The talents of Verrio, Laguerre, Ricard, and Thornhill, were employed in painting ceilings, and staircases, and galleries.

The decorations and embellishments of the interior are proportioned to the magnitude and splendour of the architectural design; works of the ancient masters in painting, and of the most eminent in sculpture, adorn the chief apartments, while the contents of the library are rare and extensive. The appendages to this palace of the Cavendishes are more remarkable for costliness, magnitude, and taste also, than those any other family-seat in England. Amongst these accessions to style, splendour.

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and completeness, the grand conservatory is the most remarkable object. It extends 300 feet in length by 145 in breadth, has a height to the central coved roof of 67 feet, and covers an area of one acre. A gallery encircles the great dome; a carriage-way passes down the centre of the building; water, hot and cold, is supplied by tubes that measure a length of six miles; the sash bars, if laid in continuation, would extend forty miles, and the glass which they now enclose amounts to 70,000 square feet. Eight acres around this wonder of art are laid out in pleasure grounds, and twelve dedicated to the production of fruits and vegetables.

This noble mansion was honoured, in the month of December, 1843, by the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and the splendour of their reception was in all respects worthy of the rank, fortune, and loyalty of the illustrious representative of this ancient family.

Remarkable events connected with the seat of Chatsworth would form a narrative of much interest, from its first foundation to the royal sojourn there in 1843. Here Mary Queen of Scots resided for some years, under the vigilant care of the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury; and a suite of apartments in the present mansion, occupying the site of her state-prison, is still distinguished amongst the household by her name. The old Hall was garrisoned for the parliament, by Sir John Gell, in 1643, but capitulated to the Earl of Newcastle, who placed a force there to hold it for King Charles, under the command of Colonel Eyre. In 1646 Gell returned with 400 parliamentarians, and laid siege to his old quarters; but Eyre's obstinacy compelled him to abandon his project, and, after fourteen days spent in fruitless efforts, to return to Derby. The ancient house was taken down in 1687; it was in the new building, therefore, and while yet unfinished, that Marshal Tallard, the French general, who was made prisoner at the battle of Blenheim, was sent to reside, on his parole, in the year 1704.

THE BARON'S HALL AT CHRISTMAS.

"We shall gather every evening beside the ancient hearth,
But one vacant place beside it, would darken all its mirth.
At any time but Christmas we give you leave to roam,
But now come back, my brother, you are so missed at home."

L.E. L.

CHRISTMAS DAY was long considered by Christian Europe both as a holy commemoration and a cheerful festival; and it was accordingly marked by devotion, by merriment, by hospitality. In the great dining-hall of the feudal lord, the height of the daïs was forgotten, the great salt-cellar, the boundary of rank, was removed, while the massive walls resounded with the tumultuous joys of serfs and of servants; and the gambols they played were a source of mirth and gratification to the lord and his family, who, by

THE BARON'S HALL AT CHRISTMAS.

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encouraging every art conducive to amusement, alleviated the rigours of the season, and mitigated the cold aspect of the winter.

At a period nearer to the reserved and formal customs of the nineteenth century, these goodly practices had not entirely evaporated. When Queen Anne held the sceptre of these islands, the old English gentleman still observed the old English habits: "he never played cards but at Christmas, when the family pack was taken from the mantel-piece; his chief drink, the year round, was generally ale, except at this season, when he would make a bowl of strong brandy-punch, garnished with a toast and nutmeg. In the corner of his hall, by the fireside, stood a large wooden two-arm chair, with a cushion, and within the chimney-corner were a couple of seats. Here, at Christmas, he entertained his tenants, assembled round a glowing fire, made of the roots of trees, and other large tough logs, and told, and heard, the traditionary tales of the village, touching ghosts and witches, till fear made them unwilling to depart. In the mean time the jorum of ale was in continual circulation." This is but an humble picture of the festivity of Christmas in the days of old-those days when the Baronial Hall of Wycoller (the original of the accompanying illustration) was occupied-when its proud owner ruled, with almost absolute power, over the half-cultivated territory around it, the inhabitants of which he looked upon as his immediate charge, his very family.

This venerable relic of the olden time is yet tolerably perfect, and, at the end of the great hall is a deep arched recess, projecting exteriorly beyond the side-wall of the building, after the fashion of domestic architecture in Henry VI.'s reign, having stone benches all round, except where the dogs for detaining the wood fire lay. Piers Hartley was its hospitable owner in the twenty-second year of the seventh Henry's reign, and his only daughter marrying one of the Cunliffes of Hollins and Billington, the manor passed to that ancient Saxon family. Adam Cunliffe, having mortgaged their manor of CunliffeHill, in Billington, to Walmesley, in the reign of Henry VIII.; in that of Elizabeth, the whole property was lost to his family. Hollins was still left, and, removing thither his state and household, he continued to occupy it until the Protectorate. "In consequence of the apostasy and opposition of John Cunliffe to the government of the commonwealth," the fierce and sanguinary hypocrites who served the Protector were permitted to plunder Hollins Hall, which had also been sequestered. Wycoller now was his only asylum, and, shutting himself within its massive walls, he died regretting the humiliation of his country. Elizabeth, the last of the Cunliffes married Samuel Scarsgill of Sheffield; and Henry Owen, her grandson, assuming the name and arms of the original proprietors, succeeded to the inheritance of Wycoller, which he enjoyed until his death in November 1818, when it passed to the present branch.

The following passage, extracted from a MS. in the possession of the Cunliffes, fully justifies the character for hospitality which history has arrogated for our ancestors. "At Wycoller Hall, the family usually kept open-house the twelve days at Christmas, Their entertainment was, a large hall of curious ashlar work, a long table, plenty of furmenty like new milk, in a morning, made of husked wheat, boiled and roast beef, with a fat goose, and a pudding, and plenty of good beer, for dinner. A round-about

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