mansion. The actual building was begun but a little while before the Revolution. In bringing about that great event the earl took a leading part, and he was rewarded, in consequence, with the title of Duke of Devonshire. The building was completed in 1706. William Talman was the architect employed; but Wren is believed to have been also consulted. This building is the square pile which forms the southern end of the present edifice. No material alteration took place at Chatsworth till the present Duke of Devonshire commenced those additions which have entirely changed the appearance and character of the place. The whole of the present building, with the exception of the original square structure, has been erected since 1820. The architect of the new portion was Sir Jeffrey Wyatville. The stone of which it is constructed was all obtained from the duke's quarries: it is a sandstone, of a rich warm tint, and beautifully veined. The grand arch affords some excellent specimens of it. All the additions have been made on one side,—a circumstance by which an irregularity hardly consistent, perhaps, with 'classic' style has been produced, but which has certainly given to the vast edifice something of originality, as well as greater lightness and picturesqueness, without at all interfering with its stateliness.

Over the interior of Chatsworth we must pass has tily: the briefest description of it would require far greater space than we can afford. The rooms are spacious and lofty; and not only fitted up and furnished in the most sumptuous manner, but stored with an innumerable variety of the costliest articles of taste and luxury. The ordinary visitor to Chatsworth, however, will now obtain but a very imperfect notion of the magnificence of the interior. Several of the most splendid of the state apartments, which used to be shown to the public, have been closed from them for the last year or two; and Chatsworth, in consequence, leaves a very different impression on the mind. The part now permitted to be seen consists chiefly of the State Apartments of the older part of the mansion. For a list of the rooms which are shown, and a description of their contents, the reader must turn to the Guide-books: here we can give but a few general

remarks.

The chief apartments are so arranged as to permit them, on state occasions, to be thrown open en suite. They are connected by openings of equal breadth, and as the state rooms occupy the entire length of the mansion, a vista, unrivalled in England, is obtained of nearly 750 feet. The effect is described by those who have witnessed it, when the whole has been set forth in its utmost richness, and the rooms were filled with brilliant company, to be of surpassing splendour. In the fittings and embellishments of the apartments it appears as though the resources of art and of wealth had been tried to the utmost. Fancy woods and marble, with carved work and gilding, are everywhere profusely lavished. Instead of the lining of the walls being of paper, rich silk brocades and velvets are employed, as also in the curtains of the windows and

the hangings which conceal the doors. only is the furniture commensurate, but, as was said, pictures, statuary, vases, and other costly articles abound on every hand. The library, the drawing-room, and the music-room-the richest of the apartments—are among those, if we remember rightly, which are not now shown.

Among the works of art which embellish this princely seat, the carvings of Grinling Gibbons claim a foremost place. When the older building was erected, Gibbons was commissioned to execute the carved ornaments of the grand rooms. These rooms accordingly possess an almost invaluable collection of carvings in wood. They consist principally of cornices, and brackets, and festoons; which are formed for the most part of flowers, shells, dead game, and scroll - work. In looking at these carvings as a whole, and with reference to their several purposes, the feeling becomes very strong that Gibbons' genius was rather executive than inventive. Nothing probably in such a material as wood can surpass the wondrous skill displayed in imitating the various objects represented, or in giving to each accuracy of surface as well as of form: the soft feathers of birds, whether smooth or ruffled, the crisp flowing foliage, the downy skin of fruit, are all given with extraordinary facility and almost deceptive truth. Yet beyond that the artist does not advance. Equally with the lacefrills (his famous masterpiece), or the net of dead game, which were executed chiefly with a view to show his executive power, all is merely imitative. And so little did appropriateness of ornament enter into his thoughts when designing the carvings for an apartment, that he has adorned the walls of the chapel with game and fruit, just in the same manner as he has more suitably decorated the dining-room. With however that drawback-that there appears to be a want of definite artistic purpose-these carvings must be regarded with almost unmingled admiration. On the whole, we think them inferior to Gibbons' carvings at Petworth, but they are without rivals elsewhere: and they command that kind of homage which only the works of genius can command. How poor and unsatisfactory after the first glance are the gold and the marble and the silk which here line the walls, when placed beside these productions of mind! It is proper to add, that a large part of the carvings at Chatsworth were executed by Samuel Watson, a native of Derbyshire, under the direction of Gibbons. We regret to be obliged to add, also, that the wood carvings are suffering terribly from the ravages of insects: some endeavour ought to be made to stay the mischief before it be too late.

Chatsworth contains a great many paintings. As is usually the case in these lordly halls, the larger part of them bear the names of the great masters of Italy and Holland: often, no doubt, without sufficient authority. But the pictures at Chatsworth are not such as dwell on the memory. Their superiority as works of art is not sufficiently great to interest you in spite of their subjects; and generally their subjects are not such as to excite much sympathy. To a lover of art-still more

to a connoisseur-the gallery at Chatsworth would no doubt afford much pleasure, if he were permitted to examine it at leisure. But to the ordinary visitor, who merely walks quickly through it, it is as unsatisfactory as a collection of works of art, which he wishes to understand and to admire, well can be. Of the productions of British artists a few good works are hung in the rooms which are shown. One room is particularly pleasing. It is not very large, but quite large enough for the purpose; the walls are hung with a rich crimson velvet, which displays the pictures to great advantage; and it is well lighted. The chief attraction here is Landseer's well-known Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time.' One would wish it to be hung a foot lower; but as it is, it stands out clear and fresh as the real scene. In its style it is perfect: the admirer of English art who remembers this picture when first painted, will rejoice to see that it has stood hitherto without the smallest change-except perhaps a slight mellowing of the tone. Less fortunate in this respect is that admirable picture of Collins's which hangs nearly opposite to it-a representation of rustic children setting open the road-gate for the 'squire-which has blackened sadly, to the great injury of the gay and happy spirit of the subject. A large academic painting by Eastlake is very beautiful, as all his paintings are; but the subject is one that does not accord with his grave and reflective genius at any rate, the picture does not come home. to the heart and the feelings of the spectator as his later paintings generally do. One such picture as the Christ Weeping over Jerusalem,' were worth a gallery of these. In this room there are also some pictures by Lawrence; one or two of small size by Liversege (showing, like most of his pictures, strong proof of the eccentricities of fashion); one or two by Newton, and several others. The portraits in the different rooms it is needless to particularize. We must not forget the beautiful natural landscape which is seen from each of the state-rooms. The windows, though large, have but a single pane of glass in the upper and in the lower sashes, so that the view is seen as it were set in a frame. Looking down the valley, the prospect is an exquisite one, embracing the river and the gentle uplands, with, close at hand, the terraces and gardens, the lakes and the fountains, of Chatsworth-a scene in its cultivated beauty of all others most appropriate to these ornate apartments.

better than most sculpture galleries. The room is of good size and very pleasing proportions, lofty and well lighted. The walls, instead of being painted as is usual, have the material of which they are constructed left uncovered. The beautiful veined sandstone is worked to a perfectly smooth surface, and its warm mellow tone forms an excellent contrast to the marble.

The sculpture at Chatsworth displays the resources of the chisel in the hands of the more eminent of recent Italian, German, and English artists. The subjects are of course taken chiefly from the Grecian mythology. Dealing almost alone with the human form, this is perhaps a necessity; but it places the modern sculptor at a great disadvantage as compared with the ancient. With the Greek the gods were living beings, and divine. With the modern they are mere abstractions, or common humanity. The Greek regarded with reverence the divinity of "the immortal gods," and he fashioned their images with respect and awe and reserve: the god was the calm embodiment of a lofty ideal; the goddess was felt to be a deity. With the modern sculptor this is impossible. His object is to make the nearest possible approach to a perfect human form. The god is a reflex of the Greek idea; the goddess a frail female, somewhat too ostentatious of her person. The modesty of ancient sculpture as compared with modern is apparently one of the least remediable differences.

Thorwaldsen's celebrated statue of Venus with the Apple,' one of the chief features in the Chatsworth collection, we think illustrates most markedly the difference between ancient and modern art. The superiority of this statue is evinced by its European reputation, yet looked at without regard to the conventional laws by which such works are commonly judged, and leaving out of view the mere handiwork, what is it? A finelyformed, plump, well-developed, somewhat matronly woman, standing in such an attitude as to exhibit most fully all her charms. Assuredly if a goddess she has put off her divinity. A Greek could not so have treated the sacred form: nor could a German perhaps have treated it otherwise. In truth, there is little hope for modern sculpture, till some man of lofty genius, looking steadily at the changed condition of the world, will grapple fairly with modern requirements, and strike out some grand modern idea. The gods are dead and forgotten, why should we continue for ever to imitate the

first hand: something that can be believed in. Michael Angelo seemed as if he comprehended the need: but he did not supply it.

Perhaps the apartment which affords most delight to the cultivated visitor is the sculpture gallery. It was built expressly for the exhibition of the collection of modern sculpture formed by the present duke, and it answers the purpose for which it was constructed much

Canova is the sculptor whose works are the grand attraction at Chatsworth. Of his poetic art the Endymion, and the famous Hebe, are the chief examples. Like all his works, they are extremely beautiful-though not divine. The colossal bust of Napoleon is a fine example of his mastery in portraiture. It is one of the very few representations of that extraordinary man which suggest the idea of one who, not content with raising himself from obscurity to an imperial throne, dared to aspire beyond it, to be the lawgiver and the

for example, you are told is a copy of the Strid, near Bolton, that strange spot, where the pent-up Wharfe pours in a tremendous torrent through the narrow gorge it has been compelled to cut through the living rock; a scene once looked on never to be forgotten-here it is copied in solid sandstone, almost the original size, and stone for stone, but wanting all its grand accompaniments, and, of course, the mighty torrent: one thinks of Madame Tussaud, and

"Thirsting for redress, Recoils into the wilderness"

or would gladly do so, were a wilderness at hand. But if it were possible to look at these things merely as works of art, they would be admirable for the ingenuity which has been expended upon them. They are not, either, merely rude rocks piled together: rockingstones, and other curious things, are here as large as the originals. But we have stayed long enough here. We should be hardly forgiven, however, if we did not, before we left this part of the grounds, mention that there is in one of the enclosures a fine healthy oak, which was planted by her Majesty when Princess Victoria, and by it a chestnut that was planted at the same time by the Duchess of Kent: the Queen's tree has far outgrown that of her august parent. There is also a tree of Prince Albert's planting; and there are others planted by the Emperor of Russia, his brother, the Arch-duke, and, we believe, other seignors and mighty potentates.

The private gardens are about half a mile distant: they are on a princely scale. The collection of orchidaceous plants is among the finest in the kingdom. The various hot-houses and green-houses are abundant and amply stored :-but gardens and park, with all their contents, we must commend to the visitor's own researches. We have already made too long a tarriance.

As we came to Chatsworth we spoke of the contrast it presented to Haddon : another contrast may suggest itself to the mind of the visitor, as it did to that of our great philosophic poet. Wordsworth's fine sonnet may appropriately conclude this hurried and imperfect notice of the Palace of the Peak:

"Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride Of thy domain, strange contrast do present To house and home in many a craggy rent Of the wild Peak; where new-born waters glide Through fields whose thrifty occupants abide As in a dear and chosen banishment, With every semblance of entire content; So kind is simple Nature, fairly tried! Yet He whose heart in childhood gave his troth To pastoral dales, thin set with modest farms, May learn, if judgment strengthen with his growth, That, not for Fancy only, pomp hath charms; And, strenuous to protect from lawless harms The extremes of favoured life, may honour both." If Chatsworth was approached from Rowsley, it must be quitted by way of Edensor. This village should be visited. The principal entrance to the park is here; and the visitor had formerly to pass through a mean and dirty village to reach it. To remedy this the duke

pulled down the old cottages, and built their occupants better and more comfortable ones at a little distance from the road. Along the road he erected a number of a rather superior class of houses,-not after a pattern and in a row, but of various shapes, and in the old English (or Elizabethan), Swiss, and Italian styles. The little village is quite unique. Edensor is a worthy pendant to Chatsworth: one farm-house is a very model.* It is hardly possible to overrate the benefit which during the last twenty years the Duke of Devonshire has, by his improvements, conferred on this part of the county. Not only has he provided constant employment for a very great number of people, and called into existence a large body of skilful artizans and labourers of various kinds, but his example has extended far around. It is not too much to say, that while he has uniformly sought to elevate the character and increase the comforts of the peasantry on his own estates, he has at the same time raised the taste and improved the physical condition of the whole locality.

The road from Edensor to Bakewell is one of uncommon beauty. Over the hills there are wide and rich prospects; in the hollows are delicious shady green lanes. Edensor Church, we ought perhaps to have mentioned, is old, and not without architectural merit: in it, too, are some noticeable monuments to some of the lords of Chatsworth, and other members of the Cavendish family. And as we have elsewhere pointed out to the rambler where he may find a temporary home, it is only proper to mention here that among the houses erected by the duke at Edensor is a very pretty inn: we have no doubt that Mr. Adam is quite correct in saying that "a party might spend a day or two at Edensor inn with great advantage." There is plenty to be seen in the neighbourhood.

STANTON Moor.

We must have another day's ramble from Rowsley : its attractions are of an entirely different kind to those of the walk last taken. Then we saw a realization of the highest state of refinement and luxury: now we are to look at the relics of an age, and a condition of society long anterior to civilization. The early British antiquities are scattered far and wide over our land. In the loneliest and what must have been the most sterile spots, on bleak moors, or bare downs ;"Remote from human dwellings, and the stir Of human life-and open to the breath And to the eye of Heaven;"

from Wiltshire and Cornwall even to Cumberland, we see extensive Druidic remains, as they are generally called, yet existing; sometimes singly and far apart, elsewhere gathered in considerable numbers, and of

*There is, by the way, in one of the rooms at Chatsworth, an actual model, on a considerable scale and beautifully exe

cuted, of a Russian farm-house and buildings; it was sent as a present to the duke by a Russian prince, who fancied it greatly resembled this farm at Edensor. The visitor will find it worth a pretty close inspection.

narrow district. North Derbyshire is very rich in these remains, and a walk to Stanton Moor will enable us to examine conveniently a few of the various classes. From Rowsley there is a way over Peak Tor and along the Stanton ridge, by which Stanton Moor may be reached within a distance of three miles. It is a rough road, and there is a long hill to be ascended, but the summit when gained commands magnificent views, both over the valley of the Derwent and in the opposite direction. Once this moorland tract must have been a wide desolate waste: now it is in good part inclosed and cultivated, or covered with plantations. Over the whole Stanton Moor, on Harthill, which is separated from it by a narrow valley, and over the moorland tract extending thence westward to the Dove, there yet remain a vast number of single stones, circles, and barrows, with rocking-stones, rock-basins, and other of those various objects which have been so long popularly associated with Druidic worship. If the stranger wishes to visit the chief of them, and be at all pressed for time, he will do well to procure the service of a guide, as they are often difficult to find-and sometimes, as far as our experience goes, only to be reached by a little infringement of the laws of trespass.

We shall notice a few of these objects. It is not our intention to explain them,-that we are unable to do; nor to theorize respecting their several purposes, a more searching investigation and a wider induction must be made before that can be done with any safety. All these rude monuments appear to be common (with a difference) alike in eastern climes, and throughout the north of Europe. There is good reason to expect, from the diligence with which ethnological studies are being pursued by the learned of different countries, that some satisfactory elucidation of a subject in which so many countries are interested, will be arrived at; meanwhile it is enough to say, that the theories of our own elder antiquaries are now generally regarded as unsatisfactory.

Perhaps the most interesting of the monuments about these parts are the circles of stones. On Stanton Moor there is one known as the Nine Ladies; it consists of nine rude upright stones arranged in a circle, of about eleven yards in circumference. The spot on which this circle stands is inclosed, and the relic itself is imperfect. On Harthill Moor, the summit of the opposite hill, about a mile and a half south-west of this spot, is another of these circles. It stands in a field called Nine Stone Close, but the circle, which is thirteen yards in circumference, consists of only seven stones of the rudest description, and only three of them are now standing. A circle of very much more importance-indeed the most perfect and important of the British remains in this part of the country-may be mentioned here for the sake of connection, though it is some four miles west of the spot we are now at. This is Arbor Low (or, as it is commonly called, and sometimes written, Arbelow). It is situated on Middleton Moor, about nine miles from Buxton; the site commands a great

moor. The monument is yet tolerably complete. It consists of a circle of about thirty shapeless flat blocks of stone, some of which are broken, but which appear to have been all from six to eight feet long, and three or four broad. The stones are now all prone; they point towards the centre of the circle, but lie irregularly : they were probably originally upright. Near the centre of the circle are two larger stones. The platform on which they are ranged is encompassed by a fosse, or ditch, about six yards wide, and fifty in diameter. Outside the ditch is a vallum, which appears to have been formed by the earth thrown up from the ditch. The circumference of the top of this mound is about 270 yards. The vallum is broken through in places, but the monument seems to be carefully preserved. Nigh it are some tumuli, one of which is of large size. Arbor Low has neither the magnitude nor the grandeur of Stonehenge; yet assuredly, in its way, nothing can be more impressive, or appeal more powerfully to the imagination than this rude and undecipherable monument of a shadowy age!

That these circles were in some way connected with the sacred rites (probably, too, as northern antiquaries suggest, with legislation, for they were commonly united) there appears to be little doubt. For a religious purpose it is generally admitted were those single rude blocks of stone raised, of which two or three are still standing on Stanton Moor and in its vicinity, and which were set up by various people over a large portion of the earth from the time of the Jewish patriarchs. Whether the rocking-stones, or logans, as they are called in Devonshire and Cornwall, and the rock-basins, which are generally found in the same neighbourhood, were employed by the priests, has been questioned. Many writers imagine that they are wholly natural, being produced by the disintegration of the rocks. That the rockbasins, which are merely hollows scooped out of the surface of the rock, have been formed by the action of water is quite probable. But any one who has carefully examined the rocking-stones in different parts of the kingdom, will find it hard to believe that they have all fallen naturally into the positions they occupy. That they should almost invariably occur in the neighbourhood of those unquestionable relics of the ancient worship is a matter not to be overlooked. Even if they were formed naturally (as it is very likely that in many cases they were), it is at least probable that the priests may have availed themselves of their peculiar property; and if so, have learnt to construct them where they did not already exist.

The most remarkable rocking-stones in Derbyshire are those on Stanton Moor, which are known as the Routor Rocks: so called from the provincial word roo, to rock. There are several of them: the largest is a huge shapeless block, and weighing some fifty tons. Originally it was so nicely poised as to be set in motion with the greatest ease. A party of young men assembled for the purpose on Whit-Sunday, 1799, and with great difficulty succeeded in throwing it off its balance. It