502 LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



chite, presented by the Emperor of Russia ; Landseer's original 

 picture of Bolton Abbey, and that touching story of Belisarius 

 old, blind, and asking alms told upon canvass by Murillo, so pow- 

 erfully 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 tasteful than these rooms, a complete suite, beginning with 

 a breakfast-room, and ending with the most select and beautiful of 

 small libraries, and including cabinets of minerals, gems, pictures, 

 etc. The whole had all that snugness and cosiness which is so ex- 

 actly 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 

 delights 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 cottage ornee. With such a prodigality of space, you can 

 easily see that the Duke can afford, for the greater part of the year, 

 to throw the palace proper, i. e., the state rooms, open to the enjoy- 

 ment of the public. 



The next morning after my arrival at Chatsworth, 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 

 drrect the whole wealth of fountains and grandes eaux to be put in 

 full play for the day, a spectacle not usually seen ; as indeed the 

 Emperor fountain is so powerful and so high that it is dangerous to 

 play it, except when the atmosphere is calm. 



We enter the Italian gardens. And what are the Italian gar- 

 dens ? you are ready to inquire. 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 park. As the house is on a highei 

 level than most of the valley, you lean over the massive Italian 



