in itself, and of the rarest order as regards its artistic merits. One of the gems so well known to 

 connoisseurs is the " Three Marys," by Annibal Caracci, a work of the most extraordinary and touching 

 fidelity, and long considered the ne plus ultra of art. Before the French revolution it adorned the 

 collection of the Duke of Orleans, who refused 8,000Z. for this wonderful master-piece of painting ; but 

 during the excitement of those destructive times it found its way into England, and subsequently became 

 the property of Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle, and his noble successors. 



There are numerous family and historical portraits, and other paintings of the highest excellence by 

 the old Masters ; also a superb collection of mythological and classic statuary, with busts and other 

 interesting objects, including a small cylindrical altar, brought by the immortal Nelson " o'er the Italian 

 waves," which once stood in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. On the top is placed a tablet bearing 

 an appropriate inscription by the present Earl of Carlisle, of which the following is the opening : 



" Pass not this ancient altar with disdain, 

 'Twas once in Delphi's sacred temple reared; 

 From this the Pythian poured her mystic strain, 

 While Greece its fate in anxious silence heard." 



We might enlarge to an indefinite length on the various objects that a highly cultivated taste and 

 laudable generosity has collected to adorn a mansion of such noble proportions ; but it is hardly our 

 province to indulge in more than a passing notice of such beautiful productions. Throughout the year, 

 visitors, by the attentive and liberal kindness of the Earl of Carlisle, have access to both Castle and 

 Gardens. 



The principal flower gardens (the whole of which constitute an area of about 100 acres) are 

 immediately in the south front of the Castle, and have recently been laid down in the Italian style, 

 from plans by Nesfield, executed by the present energetic and skilful gardener, Mr George Sutherland. 

 They are separated from the kitchen garden by a fine stately avenue of lime trees in double rows, 

 running north and south, with a centre walk of gravel eighteen feet wide traversing the whole length. 

 At the northern end stands the beautifully sculptured marble boar, brought from Italy by the fifth Earl 

 of Carlisle ; and at the other, on a raised grass mound surrounded by standard Portugal laurels, and 

 placed on a pedestal containing some beautiful lines by Milman, is a fine statue of Apollo. Adjoining 

 the avenue, on a sloping bank of turf, are some excellent specimens of the Lebanon and deodar cedars, 

 with yew and holly. Near this bank, between two raised stone flower-beds, stands a statue of Jason 

 with the Golden Fleece, and in a parallel line with the west walk of the parterre are six Grecian vases 

 on pedestals. The large Terrace walk, ten yards wide and nearly 700 yards in length, commences at 

 the iron gate at the north-west angle of the wall that divides the kitchen garden from the parterre, 

 passes in front of the Castle, and terminates in the Raywood. From this walk the descent into the 

 flower garden consists of three flights of stone steps opposite the centre and each wing of the 

 building, the principal one being twenty feet wide. At the bottom a walk, diverging to the east 

 and west, leads to another terrace of a similar order 300 yards distant, which is bounded by a 

 balustrade with very handsome stone banisters, designed by Nesfield. Between the terraces, in the 

 centre of the parterre, is the magnificent fountain erected three years ago, from designs by the Earl 

 of Carlisle. As this fountain is so much admired, and its dimensions unusually striking, we will give 

 a slight description of its construction. It might be termed the " Atlas Fountain," the chief figure being 

 a colossal carving of that demi-god bearing the globe, which is of copper, six feet in diameter, painted 

 stone colour, and encircled by a blue band containing in gold the signs of the zodiac. This figure 

 is supported by a block of stone, in the centre of a basin thirty feet in diameter, that rests 

 on some massive stone-work rising several feet from the middle of the lower or outer basin, which 

 assumes a diameter of ninety-four feet. At right angles on the upper basin are four Tritons with 

 trumpets, by which the water is thrown upon the globe, out of the summit of which at the same time 

 issues a stream in the form of the prince's feather, clothing in its fall the figure of Atlas in a sheet of 

 flashing silver. From the upper basin the water descends in pipes, and again rises into eight stone 

 shells, placed one at each arm of the Triton, from which it gracefully falls into the lower basin. The 

 whole of the figures are of Portland stone, sculptured by J. Thomas, of London. From this the water 

 is conveyed in pipes to the lake, at the south-east front, where it forms another fountain, composed 

 of eight jets falling outwards from a common centre, and a single jet d'eau, that rises from the midst 

 to a height of fifty feet. The supply is obtained from a reservoir 100 feet in diameter by ten feet 



