512 LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



situated on the slope of a wooded hill), is of later date than the 

 sixteenth century. Its history is that of the Vernon family, who 

 built and inhabited it for more than three centuries. Sir George 

 Vernon, the last male heir, lived here in the time of Elizabeth ; 

 and his magnificent hospitality and great establishment gave him 

 he name of the " king of the Peak." 



What struck me at Haddon was the realness and the rudeness 

 of those halls of ancient grandeur. There is not one alteration to 

 suit more modern tastes not a single latter-day piece of furniture 

 nothing, in short, that does not remind you of the solidly material 

 difference between ancient and modern times. Vast chimney- 

 pieces, with huge fire-dogs in them, for burning wood, large halls, 

 with open timber roofs, instead of ceilings, wainscot covered with 

 tattered arras, which hung loosely over secret panelled doors in the 

 walls, rude and massive steps to the staircases, and clumsy, though 

 strong bolts and hasps to the doors, all these, with many rude 

 utensils, show that strength, and not elegance, stamped its charac- 

 ter upon the domestic life, even of the great nobles in those days. 

 Here is a house which held accommodation for upwards of four- 

 score servants, in all the luxury of the time ; and yet, so great has 

 been the progress of civilization, that many of our working men 

 would doubtless think the best accommodation of those days but 

 rough apartments to live in. The seats in the kitchen are of stone ; 

 and there must have been cold draughts in these great barn-like 

 halls, that would make modern effeminacy's teeth chatter. 



There is a singular charm about such a veritable antique castle 

 as this, which perhaps an American feels more strongly than an 

 Englishman. It gives one the feeling of a conversation with the 

 spirits of antiquity ; and it has for us the additional piquancy, 

 growing out of the fact, that we come from a land where such 

 spirits are wholly unrecognized and unknown. To feel that in this 

 rude dining-hall the best civilization of the time flourished, and 

 mighty barons, ladies, and vassals feasted and revelled, long before 

 the first settlement was made at Jamestown, is very much like being 

 invited to smoke a cigar with Sir Walter Raleigh, or go to the 

 Globe playhouse with Manager Shakspeare. 



The terraced garden, too, is quaint and " old-timey." The specia 1 



