The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

LITERATURE AND THE ARTS. A COMFORT for little boys and girls is the announoe- ■ment that a Royal road to reading has been dis- most unlettered to learn to read in an incredible time. M. Laffou commenced with twenty-two soldiers on the 1st of February who did not know a letter, and now they can all read fluently. If there is anything in this system, the sooner it comes in detail across the water to England the better. OF books which have appeared during the week we might mention" Contributions to English Literature by the Civil Servants of the Crown and East India 'Company, from 1794 to 1863. With Occasional Biographical Notes." By Leopold Charles Martin; The Confederation of the British North American Provinces; their Past History and Future Prospects: 'including also British Columbia and Hudson's Bay Territory. With a Map, and Suggestions in Reference to the True and Only Practicable Route from the Atlantic to-the Pacific Ocean," by Thomas Rawlins; and "Ballads," by the author of "Barbara's His- tory." These latter, viewed as words of music, have considerable ,merit; but as poetry they afford no trustworthy indication of the writer's ability. The following specimen, entitled "Deserted," will give the reader an idea of the range of the ballads:- The river fiow'd past with the light on its breast, And the weeds went eddying by, And the round red sun sank down in the West When my love's loving lips to my lips were prest, Under the evening sky. Now weeping alone by the river I stray, For my love he has left me this many a day, Left me to droop and die'! As the river flow'd then, the river lows still, In ripple, and foam, and spray, On by the church, and round by the hill, And under the sluice of the old burnt mill, And out to the fading day. But I love it no more, for delight grows cold When the song is sung, and the tale is told, And the heart is giv'n away! •" Oh, river, run far Oh, river, run fast., Oh, weeds, float out to the sea! For the sun has gone down on my beautiful past, And the hopes that like bread on the waters I cast Have dritted away like thee So the dream it is fled, and the day it is done, And my lips still murmur the name of one Who will never come back to me THE anniversary dinner of the Artists' Benevolent 1 Institution is to take place on the 6th of May, and Lord Houghton is to take the chair. THE scheme for an exhibition of miniature portraits is progressing most satisfactorily, and it is anticipated the result will be a most interesting and valuable display. It will be opened about the third week in May. VISCOUNT and VISCOUTESS PALMERSTON visited. Mr. Barraud's studio in Gloucester-place, last week, to inspect his large picture of Rotten-row in 1864," which is about to be exhibited, as well as the equestrian portrait of his lordship, which has just been completed. MR. WALTON, of Saville-row, will most probably send to the Royal Academy Exhibition of this year a portrait of the eminent engineer, Mr. Page. The en- gineer is represented standing on the grand walk be. fore the House of Commons, towards which he is looking, and we believe (says the Athenwum) that is the case in very truth at the present moment. The bridge is at the back, and is appropriately introduced. Altogether it is one of those lifelikp and pleasing por. traits which Mr. Walton always produces, and which we fancy he is pretty largely dispersing amongst public institutions and private mansions of the nobility and of the wealthy classes. BEFORE the removal of Mr. Cobden's remains from Suffolk-street, Pall-mall, Mr. W. Marshall Wood, the sculptor, took an impression of the head, and the cast has been exhibited in Manchester. The expres- sion of the features is remarkably placid, and so free from changes which usually succeed death that the cast might be supposed to have been taken during life. The forehead is smooth and unwrinkled, the distinctiveness of every feature is preserved, and the profile and the full face alike present and recall every- thing characteristic of the countenance. The cast will, of course, be the model for a memorial bust of the deceased. Mr. Wood is best known by his Daphne, One of the four gems of the International Exhibition; he executed the bust of the Prince of Wales, now in the council chamber of the Town-hall and he is engaged upon a companion bust of the Princess of WaJøs. THE excavations of Pompeii, which are now being carried on with such enterprise by aid of the Italian Government, have resulted in the discovery of a much larger number of works of art than have been found for some years previously. The excavations are now being made in what is supposed to have been the west end, or more fashionable part of this famous watering place, and hence the greater number of works of art. The Italian Government have given permission for artists and modellers to copy any of the works which are discovered from time to time, under, of course, suitable restrictions as to the preservation of the originals. This .privilege has been turned to good account by a clever Neapolitan artist, who has copied two wonderfully fine statuettes in bronze which were found at the commencement of the last year. One of them is the figure of the Narcissus, graceful in form and outline, and having all the classic beauty of the antique. The figure is undraped. The other statuette is a Silenus. His features are somewhat of the Negro type, but they are full of expression. The broad, thick-set, muscular body and limbs contrast in a striking manner with the more graceful forms of the Narcissus. With one arm held aloft he grasps in his hand the head of a snake, which coils around and forms a circle, the tail resting on the shoulder of the Silenus. The ring thus formed by the snake forms a fitting support for a vase or lamp. The supporting figure is partially draped, and his lower limbs are ex- tended as though to give a steady footing while holding the burden. The left hand appears to have held a small pitcher or vase. The figures have been repro- duced of the size of the originals, about thirty inches, with marvellous fidelity, and are coloured to imitate exactly the verd-antique.

POLITICAL GOSSIP. THE signa of the approaching elections become more numerous every day. In all parts of the kingdom local committees are meeting to arrange with candi- dates and to read communications from the Reform or the Carlton. New men are putting out feelers in the shape of addresses, old men are inquiring of their agents the chances of re-election. Elderly M.P.'s are consulting their doctors as to whether they are strong enough to go through another Parliamentary cam- paign. Juvenile M.P.'s are consulting their lawyers about the state of the register. In the House of Com- mons itself, the chief subject of gossip before the Easter vacation was whose seat is safe, and whose political oxtinotion/is at hand; and there is no doubt that the order to prepare for battle will be given about the end of June, and the battle itself will commence in October. THE writ for the election of a member for South Shropshire, in the room of Viscount Newport, now elevated to the Upper House by the death of his father, the Earl of Bradford, has been received, and the election will take place next week. It is not anti- cipated that the seat will be contested, or that the politics of the sitting member will be changed, The only candidate in the field is Colonel the Hon. Percy E. Herbert, C.B., formerly M.P. for Ludlow. The hon. candidate, in his address to the electors, refers them to his votes when member for Ludlow as the best indication of the general line'of politics which he would pursue if elected. He adds-" I shall endeavour to secure for the agricultural interest a fairer share than has of late been allotted to it, in the remission and re- duction of taxation. I shall support such measures as are necessary for the maintenance of our naval and military establishment in a state of efficiency, as one of the best securities^ or peace. A NOTICE has been given of the intention to take up the Edmunds case in the House of Commons after the report is made. A REPRESENTATIVE peerage becomes vacant by the death of the Earl of Desart, and it is believed that Viscount Gort will be the successful candidate. THE Courts of Europe who were appealed to to countenance the perversion of the succession to the Viceroy of Egypt from his brother to his son have unanimously said "No." As it would be against the fundamental principle upon which the rights of the Viceroy himself to reign are founded, only a coup d'etat which has nothing to do with rights can settle the matter. THE Charivari publishes a woodcut, in which- an inhabitant of Schleswig is seen to apostrophise, in the following terms, an aged personage covered with snow, itjjjresseiiuiug TTliitwr :—" Tills ulil fellow must IlKowise be a Prussian. He comes here to all appearance for three months, and then will not on any account take his departure!" THE very kind feelings which the death of Mr. Cobden has called forth from the press of France has produced a sense of melancholy pleasure and obligation throughout this country. The manner in which the Emperor has personally indicated his appreciation of the virtues and services of an English statesman is peculiarly graceful and characteristically considerate. DURING the examination of the Lord Chancellor before the Edmunds Committee, a member of the Lower House, who had got in surreptitiously, had the impudence to call out, Speak out, my Lord!" This nettled the irritable lord, and, turning round, he said, in his usnal mellifluous voice, The honourable member has such long ears that I should have thought that he could hear every word." MAZZINI'S discovery of the secret articles in the treaty of September, by which Italy gives a slice of territory to France, has raised such a storm of indig- nation against the open-hearted and open-handed monarch that the people of Turin growl vengeance against the King, and the King deems it wise to go south. M. MUSURUS, the Turkish ambassador at our Court, has, by order of the Sultan, sent a remonstrance to Earl Russell relative to the impertinent meddling of English missionaries in Turkey. He is requested to remind his lordship that the mistaken efforts of these 1 missionaries in India was the principal cause of the insurrection in that country.

HINTS UPON GARDENING. BEDDING PLANTS.—If our advices have been fol- lowed, most of these are now in a forward state, and their pots full of roots. Shift any that are wanted large for centres of beds and back rows of ribbons. Now proceed to propagate all the variegated gera- niums and'silvery-leaved plants, which, as bloom is not of much consequence, need not be got on so early as the flowering kinds. Cerastium'-tomentosum, cut up into bits two inches long, the lower leaves of the cut- tings removed, and dibbled into pans of very sandy soil, will be in prime condition for planting at bedcing- out time. It may be delayed another week if work ,presses hard. The same with variegated mint, much better when struck late in spring from shoots truly coloured than if got forward too early. The variegated arabis may be rooted quickly in the same way by dividing it into separate crowns. It is said to be shy of rooting now that it is in flower, but that is a mis- take, as we know from having raised millions of plants at this time of year. If there is a moderate quantity of old stools, they may be divided and planted in tufts, with a bit of root to each, four inches apart, at the end of this month, and will meet and form a lovely yellowish-grey line by the middle of June. Verbenas and petunias struck now will make good bedding plants if encouraged to grow after potted off. This is the best time also to put ia cuttings of bedding tropasolums, which flower best and grow more mode- rately when struck late and planted out in poor soil. CABBAGE.—A sowing of two or three sorts now will furnish a supply of useful plants to fill up vacant plots as summer crops are taken off. Early Dutch twist is a capital one to sow now for filling up gaps. as it may be planted as close as lettuces. Enfield- market, early York, sugarloaf, and Shilling's queen, are kinds that should be largely relied upon. CELERY.-SOW for the last time, in seed pans, and place on a hotbed; but if no convenience of that kind, sow on a warm, dry border, and it will come up in time to make good plants for a late supply. When there are no conveniences for growing celery in trenches, useful plants may be had for soup by sowing any of the red kinds on a warm border, and when large enough planting them out in beds,six inchesapart every way. These need not be earthed up at all, as the earth- ing is intended to blanch it, and for soup that is not necessary. This plan is recommended for poor shallow soils where fine heads of celery for table can- not be produced. Prick out on a bed of three parts rotten dung and one part loam the plants from the last sowing; and pot off singly, in sixty-sized pots, the a' ts for the first crop, which encourage with a moist in a cucumber pit. We always turn out from pots our first crop of celery, and obtain fine heads early in the season; it is a method which occasions no check to the plants. COUVE TRONCHUDAJ OR PORTUGAL CABBAGE.— This delicious vegetable should be sown now in every gar.1 en for autumn use. In warm districts, where winter greens do not usually suffer from frost, it may be sown again in May and August, to stand over winter, but in ordinary English climates, one crop to use in autumn is] sufficient to be safe. Sow in a well- prepared bed, and, when large enough, plant out on deep rich soil, two feet from plant to plant. The heart of the plant is superior to cauliflower, and the midribs of the outside leaves nearly as good as seakale. CUCUMBERS require careful management this dull weather. See that the beds are not too moist, or mildew may appear. Add fresh linings, fork up the beds, give air cautiously, stop and train, and use tobacco at the first sign of fly. LAWNS to be mown and rolled, and daisies spudded out before they scatter their seeds. Our grass has been twice mown already, and onr spergula is now like piled velvet, quite fresh and lively, and recovered from its yellowish winter hue. We are more than ever satis- fied that sand is preferable to clay for all spergulas and saginas. ONIONS for salads to be sown frequently. Fork over the beds of main crop, and if no blade appearing, or if the blade is thin, make up your mind whether you ought to sow again. Onions sown last autumn may now be transplanted to rich beds, in rows nine inches apart, and be helped with occasional sprinklings of guano on the surface. P ANSIES.-This is a good time to buy in stock of new kinds, and to sow for pot and border bloom. Cut- tings of bedding kinds put in now will make nice plants to bloom all the summer; better than if propagated earlier. POTATOES.—It is not late now to get in the main crop, but it had best not be longer delayed. SPINACH.—Sow the round seeded again, for succes- sion, and also the prickly or Flanders. These winter sorts do not belt so soon in hot weather as the round- seeded, and should be preferred for all, except the earliest spring sowings. STOVE AND GREENHOUSE.—See recent notices, and fetch up arrears. Keep paths and stages reasonably dry and very clean. TOMATOES, CAPSICUMS, &c.—Pot off as fast as needful, and keep them growing vigorously. It is not too late to sow if they have been neglected. VEGETABLE MARROW sown now will produce almost as early as those sown a fortnight or a month since. It is best to get the plants on singly in pots, as they are shorter and stronger when turned out than if grown several in a pot and allowed to sprawl about and spindle away their strength.—Garde'ivem' Weekly Magazine and Floricultural Cabinet.

OUR MISCELLANY. --+-- Good Advice.—" Cultivate not only the corn- fields of the mind, but the pleasure-grounds also," was a motto of Dr. Whately. Fact.-A candidate for the Ordnance-office under- going examination wrote "Vennice" in one of his papers. Do you know, sir, that there is but one 'hen' in Venice? asked the indignant examiner. "Then eggs must be very scarce there," was the reply. A Happy GirL—A gentleman who did not live very happily with his wife, on the maid telling him that she was about to give her mistress warning, as she kept scolding from morning till night, said, Happy girl! I wish I could give warning too." Improving Nature.—A lecturer addressing a Hampshire audience, contended with tiresome prolixity that art could not improve nature, until one of his hearers, losing all patience, set the room in a roar by exclaiming, How would you look without your wig ? A Mark of Civilisation.—A French writer concludes an account of his shipwreck in these words: Having arrived at an unknown region, I travelled eleven hours without discovering the least trace of any human being. At last I perceived to my great joy, a wretch suspended on a gibbet. Ah!' I exclaimed, I am now in a civilised country. Unity is Strength..—When dogs attack a flock of sheep, the sheep scatter, and thus become an easy prey, but in attacking goats they find it more difficult to accomplish their purpose. The, goats form into a ring, the kids in the centre, and the horns of the old bucks, presented against the enemy, are a strong defence.Old Jonathan. The Power to say No.The purity of moral habits is, I am afraid, of very little use to a man un- ess it is accompanied by that degree of firmness which enables him to act up to what he may think right in spite of solicitations to the contrary. Very few young men have the power of negation in any great degree at first. It increases with the increase of confidence, and with the experience of those incon- veniences which result from the absence of this virtue. Every young man must be exposed to temptation; he cannot learn the ways of men without being witness to their vices. If you attempt to preserve him from danger, by keeping him out of the way of it, you render him quite unfit for any style of life in which he may be placed. The great point is, not to turn him out too soon, and to give him a pilot at first.-Sydney Smith. Singular Epitaphs.—On the tombstone of a celebrated surgeon, in Brancepeth churchyard, Dur. ham:- I. What I was once some may relate; What I am now is all men's fate; What I shall be none can explain Until He that called, calls again. Among the curious epitaphs which we sometimes meet is one in Hanwell churchyard, which runs as follows: Beneath this tomb I do intrust Are the remnants of her worthy dust: Farewell awhile, ye silent tomb, Until your husband calls for room. It is interesting to mention that the wife whose epi- taph is given above, died in 1813, aged forty-four years. The husband lived until 1846, when he died, at the age of eighty-two years, so that he seems to have been in no great hurry to41 call for room." Easter Eggs. Helena," in the Queen, writes: Many are the plans for dyeing Easter eggs, but I think of these the most successful one is the following: —" Obtain pieces of silk of the brightest colours that can be procured, and having cut them up into bits about an inch in length and half an inch in width, add a few small chips of logwood and a little turmeric let the egg be well embedded in this, so that the silk may form a thick layer round it; sew it up in the coarsest brown paper, and boil it for half an hour or more. A blue colour can be given by boiling the egg in powdered indigo, with the addition of a teaspoonful of dilute sulphuric acid. When the egg is taken out of the brown paper, it will be found to have a mottled ap- Eearance, in which the bright colours of the silk will be seen prettily blended and contrasted with those of the dyes. I have seen eggs painted which had a very good effect. They were first boiled quite hard, and then a subject, either landscape or figure, was painted with a camel's hair brush, or etched with a steel pen, usually in Indian ink. I have a turkey's egg which is beautifully ornamented with views of celebrated places, round which are plaoedfanoy borders, forming a frame for the pictures. The design is drawn on the egg, and the ground is entirely filled in with lamp-black, so that the work has the effect of an etching on a black egg." The Nightingale Fund.—The promoters of the Nightingale Fund are well satisfied that money need not stand in the way cf the training of any number young women for service in hospitals or anywhere else. The demand is so great that money for the pur- pose is always forthcoming, if the candidates can be got, after the fund has distributed its income. That fund at present maintains and trains in St. Thomas's Hospital eighteen women between the ages of twenty- five and thirty-five for at least a year each. Thus far the eagerness to secure them at the year's end has been each that all have been immediately placed, and may be considered provided for for life. As many more are received as can be employed and trained in proportion to the number of patients; and of these the expenses are paid by private patrons. In the last report of the Nightingale Fund it is stated that the lowest salary received by any hospital nurse of their pupils is £ 20 a year, and maintenance in everything but clothes. This lowest pay is certainly not high, being about equal to that of a provincial cook, or a good housemaid; but it is the lowest, while it includes an amount of personal comfort, and a permanence and security of employment, which the humble governess and the milliner's journeywomen can never hope for. 1 What the hospital higher salaries are I do not know. The certainty of a pension after a fixed age would fill the homes very easily, if we may judge by what I am told of one, which gives X20 a year after twelve years' 'I service, and which does not suffer for want of appli- cants. In private practice a skilled nurse may evi- dently demand her own terms; and a rich field of enterprise remains for those who, being trained, be. come the trainers of others in the new schools which will be rising up everywhere.—CoTtMH Magazine. A Highland Shower.—Under s, bright sun and a cloudless sky you suddenly catch something like a thud on the hat. Startled, and looking upwards, some half dozen tumblerfuls of water come splash on your face. There seems no cause for this, except that the hills seem to be covered with tinfoil, and the sun looks a little hazy, and to be leering at YOll-but this only for an instant, while you are at the edge of the cloud; suddenly all becomes dark as an eclipse, while the tumblerfnls rattle down in millions. After a couple of minutes the whole stops suddenly as with a jerk, or as if the grandmother of all buckets, as the Persians would say, had been emptied. When you come to your senses, you see the cloud careering away like a blaok curtain, lifting its skirts over mountain after moun- tain, and revealing them to the sun, while stretching over its back is a double rainbow-not hazy and tran- slucent like common specimens, but all clear as if painted on a black board, though with colours so bright as to eat out any ever laid on by the hand of man. On your own side everything glitters in the sun as if millions of diamonds had been strewed about, and over multifarious clattering brooks tiny irises caper away in all their finery like distracted fairies. From the steeped birches in the hollows, and the fields of bog-myrtle, the hot sun pours out and disperses a fragrance to which the odours of all the cosmetics of the perfumers' shops are what the Dutch call them-- stinks. Yon have have been as completely soused as if you had been dipped under Foyers; but the sensa- tion is worth paying for, and you may yet have re- freshing recollections of it when traversing some shingly plutonic vine district, or dry sandy plain of France or Germany.—The Cairngonn Motmtains, by J. H. Burton. A Volunteer Review Half a Century Ago. -On this occasion not less than 30,000 men passed in review, and a portion of them, especially the City Light Horse and the Artillery Volunteers, would have extorted praise from the most fastidious disciplinarian. I was present at the review on Wimbledon-common, which seemed much farther from town than it does now, and, in the absence of railways and omnibuses, was quite in the country. Partly walking and partly riding, as I could'get accommodation, I arrived at the scene of action about eleven o'clock a.m. The review was expected to commence at half-past one. Vast crowds had already assembled, and most of the regiments were in position. It was an exceedingly warm summer day. Soda-water and ginger-beer were in great request, and the itinerant vendors of oranges were doing a gainful trade. The company, many of them being ladies, were arranged in a vast semicircle on the verge of the space allotted to the troops. There was abundance of warlike music: drums and cymbals more than sufficient; trumpets not of the most silvery sound whilst the flageolets seemed to have caught cold, so hoarse were their tones. Presently the multitude, which had been marvellously quiet, began to sway to and fro in evident excitement; there was a distant sound of carriage wheels—a halt: indicated by a long, loud shout of welcome then a brief pause a roll of drums, a deafening trumpet-call, gradually mellowing into" God save the King," and the people, opening right and left, admitted the royal cortege into the square kept by the volunteers. The king came first, in the costume of a field-marshal, mounted on a magni- ficent black charger, and bowing his bare head con- tinually, amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of his subjects. He looked old, worn, and anxious, but his eye occasionally lit up as he acknowledged the greeting he received. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York followed. It would have been difficult to have found two -finer looking men. The prince was then about thirty.-The Old City, its Highways and Byways.

THE PALACES AND FAMILY SEATS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. (From the Courier.) HAMPTON COURT PALACE was built by Cardinal Wolsey, one of the remarkable men of whom history is enabled to record circumstances calcu- lated to serve us for instruction, that we may imitate his example in some things, and carefully avoid his failings in others. The cardinal was the son of a tradesman at Ipswich, in Suffolk. As a child he no doubt dis- covered superior intellectual powers, and probably fell into the hands of a good instructor. He was sent early to college, and in due course made his way, by a series of providential events, until he came under the notice of royalty, and, finding favour there, it was not long before the powers of his mind availed itself of the influence such a position afforded. The cardinal became a pluralist of an unprecedented character, and acquired a revenue larger than that of his Royal master. It was not, therefore, a strange thing that he should desire to build for him- self a house of compatible importance; and for that purpose consulted eminent physicians, Eng- lish and foreign, to find a spot within twenty miles of London which they might consider most suitable, in soil and situation, for erecting a palace. These professional gentlemen recom- mended Hampton, both for the salubrity of the situation, and the purity of the water to be ob- tained from the springs of Coombe-wood, adjacent, from which place the water is conveyed by means of pipes carried under the Thames, The cardinal put himself in communication with the Prior of the Knights' Hospitallers, who had an es- tablishment near Smithfield, and who possessed the Manor of Hampton Court with an old house and chapel; he obtained a lease from the brethren of the manor for ninty-nine years, at a ground rent of fifty pounds per annum, renewable. The old manor-house and buildings were removed, and a palace built by the cardinal from designs of his own preparing—a building more polished in character, and more splendid in arrangement than had at any previous period adorned this country. It is said that the original palace comprised five large courts; of the original courts, only one, the Western, remains. Its dimensions and construc- tion give to us a fair idea of what the whole range of buildings may have been in the year A.D. 1520. The castellated towers, and elegant variegated shafts, rising above the mass—the domes, the pin- nacles, the vanes-the beautifully designed and executed oriel and bay windows-the medallions, shields, and images in relief, of the Roman emperors-the halls and courts, and the mellow tints of the briel-,work-all combine, when seen in strong light and shade, to elevate the thoughts to greater and nobler aspirations. To ecclesiastics chiefly, is to be traced in England the cultivation of this artistic style of building, and in Wolsey it seemed to culminate, and after him to fall into decline. But a revival has been organised by the Camden, and other societies; and we may see springing up again in the land greater efforts in the display of this kind of architecture than even characterised the period of its first as- cendancy. We shall not attempt a critical description of the exterior or interior of Hampton Court Palace; it is an object of attraction to all who either reside in, or visit our great metropolis; and to any who have not been led to spend a short time within its boundary, should this brief allusion to it meet their notice, we strongly urge that they do not allow the present spring or summer to pass away without availing them- selves of the great privilege of paying a visit to the domain. The architect will find hints which may improve his taste; the painter will not fail to meet with works of art, which for arrangement, proportion, colour, and execu- tion his spirit will burn to emulate; the anti- quarian will have food to gratify his most curious fancies; the stoic find scenes calculated to raise his soul, to develop the fellowship of love which God has intended that he should manifest; the invalid have new life imparted by the charming views and sweet breezes which enliven the orna- mental grounds; and professors and amateurs will find in every department models worthy their study and imitation. The great hall alone is worth a visit, with its vaulted roof, its brackets, its arches, and its pendants, the elegantly formed and artistically painted windows, their historical memories and moral teaching, suited t» all characters, encouraging" and animating the good to struggle for the prize which awaits the conquest of virtue, and giving caution and watting of danger to the debased, that they fall not, into the same calamity which some ha,ve suffered whose names and history are conspicuous on Its walls; we all need encouragement, for rew-erd,. and reproof, for caution. A visit to Hampton Court Palace is a great treat to any who go with a mind to be instructed, and to spend a day of happy enjoyment—a day to. be passed in cheerfulness and discretion, the happy mean between solemness and folly, The allegorical paintings by Verrio, on the gsand staircase, are beautiful specimens of great concep- tion, and interesting to persons acquainted with mythological systems. The Guard Chamber is worthy the notice of the curious in arms and im- plements of warfare: there is the old bandalier and rest, the scythe, the frontlet, the helmet, and the armour. Portraits admirals and generals of renown, whose history and characters fire one with admiration of our country's heroes. There are pictures, by eminent masters, representing battles by sea and land; compositions and speci- mens also from all the great schools of painting throughout Europe. We walk about, as in the spirit, surrounded with the images of past cen- turies, and feel animated with the hope that all whose memories are here so vividly brought before us, who were inspired with the intellect that breathes in their productions, may now be gathered with the great company of saints and angels waiting for our reception and the grand consummation of all things. The present palace consists of three courts, and was chiefly formed in its present arrange- ment by King William III., who pulled down, altered, and restored it to what it is now. The cardinal himself often resided here during the few years that fortune smiled upon him after its erection, and his suite and establishment was more like a regiment than a domestic household. He retained no less than 800 persons in his daily ser- vice, amongst whom were priests, knights, esquires, physicians, and gentlemen of all attainments. In the palace Edward VI. was born, and here his mother, the Queen Jane Seymour, died a few days after his birth. The unfortunate Anne Boleyn, upon whom rested the name of queen, was beheaded on the 19th day of May, 1536, and on the following day the king married the Lady Jane Seymour. We exclaim, Can such things be! Yes, they are; but how long did this new love last? One year and five months, and then it faded away. It is said the king left the palace and wore mourning. In 1540 the king had another wife at Hampton Court, and in 1543 another, and the last. The pedigrees of these several ladies will be found represented on the windows on the north and south sides of the great hall. The Queen Mary and her husband Philip passed their honeymoon at the palace. It is said to have been a gloomy one, portending storms: Oil Eliza- beth becoming queen, some of the former scenes of festivity were revived. James I. also resided here, and Charles I. Cromwell witnessed here the death of his favourite daughter, Mrs. Claypole. Charles II., and James II., King William, who chiefly rebuilt it, and laid out the gardens, which comprise forty- five acres, and Queen Mary, whose embroidery work may still be seen, were its constant tenants; and it was occupied by George I. and George II., after which it was not used as a Royal re- sidence. A part of the palace is now devoted to the residence of private ladies and families, upon whom the Lord Chamberlain has the privilege of conferring that benefit. These apartments are very complete, and exceedingly desirable from, the beauty of the situation, the comfort of the residence, the proximity to the metropolis, and the facilities of conveyance There is Divine service in the chapel on Sundays, and a military guard always on duty. It was upon the 18th of June, just 350 years ago, that Cardinal Wolsey gave to his Royal friend and patron the magnificent paJace of Hampton- court. The cardinal knew full well that his master was not a man in whom it would be safe to provoke envious feelings, and when the king inquired for whom his grace had erected so fine a palace, the cardinal adroitly replied that it was in order that he might present it to his Majesty, This was a safe though a subtle answer, and must have given bitter feelings to the man who made it; but, as the palace could be no benefit to the body if the head were gone, so the cardinal thought it was more prudent to retain the head and sacrifice the palace. The king gave the cardinal in exchange the use of Richmond Palace, which had been erected and used by Henry VII. In the consideration of this palace of Hampton Court we have brought before us two remarkable men: one an archbishop of the Church, the other the king of a great nation-both men endowed with natural powers of no common order, and placed in the first offices of life—allowing all the advantages of their possessions and position to run waste through the channels of wickedness and vice. The powers of their minds were debased, their liberty was uncontrolled, and their dispositions were to gratify evil passions, without regard to the claims of others. What is recorded, as to the public or private lives of either, that can be commended to our imitation or regard ? Their mortal experience must have been folly, excitement, disappointment, and sin; and if a nation's protection or elevation de- pended upon characters as these, it could only end in desolation and ruin; but the spirituality of the church does not depend upon a minister such as the cardinal; nor the preservation of the nation upon a king like Henry. They are ap- pointed its natural guardians, and under their faithfulness great prosperity may be looked for, but the keeping of both are in the hands of an unseen Power, who governs only for good. The church was Bot only kept, but a tide of benefits were caused to flow from a source little likely to produce them; and the church, being the salt of the nation, preserved that also from destruction, but as by fire. How fearful it is to think upon the cruelties which marked the daily actions of this king Men's lives were put out by flames, hanging, and decapitation, as you would extinguish the lamp in your chamber; re- morse and pity were dormant in the man; if his wife cried for mercy, he answered her cry with a death warrant; if a humble witness for truth, condemned to be burnt, sued for pity, he ordered aggravated cruelties to be exercised in his exe- cution. As the disobedience of Adam, and the besotted bigotry of those who crucified our Lord, were the causes of greater gifts upon posterity, so has God made the wrath of this man to praise hu.<1, and the results have been like the smitten rock of Horeb, a channel of blessings to the human race. The free circulation of the Bible, and the de- liverance of the Established Church from super- stition and error, may be dated from the period of this reign. Let us not desire greatness when it is accom- panied with associations which degraded these me,n-for they could have had no peace, living or dying; but let us rather desire a humble station, with the benefit of domestic happiness and the exercise of philanthropy and virtue*