MR. DOWNING'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



219 



ters, and a very richly deconited private 

 chapel, are among the show apartments of 

 Chatsworth. 



So much of the palace as I have enu- 

 merated, along with all the out-of-door trea- 

 sures of the domain, is generously thrown open 

 to the public by the Duke ; and you may be- 

 lieve that the opportunity of gratifying their cu- 

 riosity is not thrown away, when I tell you that 

 upwards of 80,000 persons visited Cliatsworth 

 last year. Having heard this before I went 

 there, I fancied the annoyance whi(;h all this 

 publicity must give to the possessor and his 

 guests. But when I saw the vast size of the 

 house, and how completely distinct the rooms 

 of the guests and the private apartments of 

 the Duke are, from the portion seen by the 

 public, I became aware how little inconve- 

 nience the proper inmates of the palace suf- 

 fered by the relinquishment of the show 

 rooms. The private suite of drawing-rooms, 

 appropriated to the guests at Chatsworth, is 

 decorated and furnished in a far more chaste 

 and simple style than the state rooms, though 

 with the greatest refinement and elegance. 

 Among these adornings, I observed a superb 

 clock, and some very large vases of green mala- 

 chite, presented by the Emperor op Russia ; 

 Landseer's original picture of Bolton Ab- 

 bey, and that touching stor}' of Belisarius — 

 old, blind, and asking alms — told upon can- 

 vass bj' 3IuRlLL0, so powerfully as to send 

 a thrill through the dullest observer. 



In the ground floor, opening on a level 

 with the Italian gardens, is the charming 

 suite of apartments, occupied chiefly by the 

 Duke when his guests are not numerous. 

 Nothing can well be imagined more taste- 

 ful than these rooms, — a complete suite, 

 beginning with a breakfast-room, and end- 

 ing with the most select and beautiful of 

 small libraries, and including cabinets of 

 minerals, gems, pictures, etc. The whole 

 had all that snuo;ness and cosiness which is so 



exactly opposite to what one expects to find 

 in a palace, and which gave me the index to a 

 mind capable of seizing and enjoying the de- 

 lights of both extremes of refined life. The 

 completeness of Chatsworth House, as you 

 will gather from what I have said, is that it 

 contains under one roof, suites of apartments 

 for living in three different styles — that of the 

 palace, the great country house, and the cot- 

 tage ornee. With such a prodigality of space, 

 you can easily see that the Duke can aff"ord, 

 for the greater part of the year, to throw the 

 palace proper, i. e., the state rooms, open to 

 the enjoyment of the public. 



The next morning after my arrival at Chats- 

 worth, was one of unusual brilliancy. The 

 air was soft, but the sunshine was that of our 

 side of the Atlantic, rather than the mild and 

 tempered gray of England. After breakfast, 

 and before making our exploration of the 

 gardens and pleasure grounds, the Duke had 

 the kindness to direct the whole wealth of 

 fountains and grandes eaiix to be put in full 

 play for the day, — a spectacle not usvially 

 seen; as indeed the Emperor fountain is so 

 powerful and so high that it is dangerous 

 to pla^' it, except when the atmosphere is 

 calm. 



We enter the Italian gardens. And what 

 are the Italian gardens ? you are ready to in- 

 quire. I will tell you. They are the series 

 of broad terraces, on two or three levels, which 

 surround the palace, and which, containing 

 half a dozen acres or more of highly dressed 

 garden scenery, separate the pleasure grounds 

 and the house from the more sylvan and rural 

 pai'k. As the house is on a higher level 

 than most of the valley, you lean over the 

 massive Italian balustrade of the terrace, (all 

 of that rich golden stone,) and catch fine vis- 

 tas of the park scenery below and beyond 

 you. Of course, the Italian gardens are laid 

 out in that symmetrical style which best ac- 

 cords with a grand mass of architecture, and 



