THE RICHMOND ' VILLA ' 177 



'. . . I went 3''esterday to see the Duke of Queensberry's 

 palace at Richmond, under the conduct of George Selwyn 

 " the concierge " [sic]. You cannot imagine how noble it 

 looks now all the Cornbury pictures from Amesbury are 

 hung up there. The great hall, the eating-room, and the 

 corridor are covered with whole and half lengths of the 

 Royal family, favourites, ministers, peers, and judges of 

 the reign of Charles the First. Not one are original, I 

 think 1 — at least, not one fine ; yet altogether they look very 

 respectable. And the house is so handsome, and the views 

 so rich, and the day so fine, that I could have been more 

 pleased if — for half an hour — I could have seen the real 

 palace that once stood on that spot, and the persons repre- 

 sented walking about . . .' 



In a subsequent letter, Walpole mentions the 

 Prince of Wales and. Mrs. Fitzherbert dining with his 

 grace, of which Queensberry had told him, and who 

 also remarked, ' On the very spot where Hved Charles 

 the First, and where all the portraits of his principal 

 courtiers hang. Queensberry has taken to that palace 

 at last, and frequently has company and music there 

 of an evening. I intend to go.' A Queensberry 

 House now stands at Richmond; but, although 

 erected on part of the site of his grace's palace, it 

 is only the shadow of what once stood there, though 



1 This can scarcely be correct, as many of the art treasures 

 of Cornbury were vei-y fine. 



M 



