them by passages. They should be seen in order to arrive at a clear conception of the arrangements of the original pile. The finest and least altered of the old quadrangles is the Outer Court, and its appearance is remarkably picturesque. The capabilities of the old Tudor brickwork are here very well displayed. These quadrangles are connected by lofty gatehouses of pleasing form and elaborate decoration; the dull red brick of which, like the whole of the original edifice, they are constructed, is admirably adapted to their somewhat heavy richness of style, while the light and graceful oriels and stone dressings sufficiently relieve the sombreness that would arise from a uniform tint of reddish brown. It is worth noting as we pass, that the busts of the twelve Cæsars which decorate the old courts were presented to Wolsey by the magnificent Leo X. These courts are disfigured by some "classic" colonnades and other modern additions and embellishments, but the good taste that has presided over the changes which have been made here within the last few years, warrants the expectation that, at no very distant period, all that remains of Wolsey's building will be restored as nearly as may be to its primal condition.

Having surveyed the exterior of the two older quadrangles, the visitor will do well, before he proceeds to the state apartments, to turn aside up the dark staircase he will see on his left hand, under the arch of the gateway which leads to the inner court. A painted board points the way “to the Hall." From the staircase you enter at once into the old hall, by a door under the gallery "where the music did play." Eminently striking is the first view that is presented on emerging

from the gloomy passage into this noble room. The whole room glitters with splendid colouring, too splendid, perhaps, to be quite accordant with the sober tone of historic feeling which seems appropriate to such a place. A broad flood of light streams through windows richly stained with many a strange heraldic bearing and quaint device; and the brilliant hues enrich with a mellow glow the bright colours and gilding so lavishly spread over the elaborate carvings of the roof. Now that these restorations have been made, and the hall shines in all its original splendour, scarce anything of the kind can be conceived more imposing than is the general effect. Looking more at leisure the visitor will, after the first surprise is over, perhaps regret the flimsy nature of some of the decorations. He will wish that the banners had been not quite so gaudy, nor the St. George so extravagant; and perhaps he will also regret that instead of the cold stone floor there had not been one laid down of figured tiles, as was the case at first. But these are small drawbacks scarcely worth mentioning, and not to be set off against the handsome liberality with which the magnificent relic has been renovated, especially for public gratification.

The Hall is indeed a noble specimen of the palatial hall of the time of its founder; fitting to be either the audience-chamber or the banquetingroom of a sovereign. Its proportions, ample enough for the costliest display of that

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Pomp, and feast, and revelry,

And masque and antique pageantry,"

in which our ancestors loved to exhibit alike their

On

wealth and their taste, are at the same time such as to produce the most pleasing impression on the eye. In length it is one hundred and six feet, in breadth forty, in height sixty feet. The lofty walls support a richly carved, open, oak roof, of very elaborate design, which has lately been painted and gilt with more than its original brilliancy. At the farther end of the hall is the dais-the platform carried across the room and raised a step above the rest of the floor, where at the high-board sat the lord of the house with his chief guests. the south side of the dais is a splendid bay-window. Across the lower end is a screen of carved oak, which supports the music-gallery. Along the sides of the room are twelve windows reaching from the roof half-way down the walls; at the west end is another window. All the windows are filled with stained glass, representing the bearings and quarterings of Henry and his half-dozen wives, and also the arms and offices of the Cardinal; the whole being further set off with proper supporters and appropriate inscriptions. The painted glass is entirely from the studio of Mr. Willement, the painter of glass par excellence of our time; and the harmonious arrangement of the colours serves well to subdue the light, that before was rather glaring, and to chasten somewhat the formerly too vivid colours of the blazonings of the roof. The walls of the hall are hung with the designs in tapestry that adorned them at first, and though darkened and faded by time, they are none the less interesting. The arras in the hall represents various circumstances in the life of Abraham: that under the music-gallery, allegories of the Virtues with the opposing Vices; and if they are not to be greatly

admired as works of art, they are not to be despised even in that respect.

At present the furniture in the hall consists mainly of a few modern chairs; it would be a vast improvement if a high-board and state seat of the proper style were placed on the dais, and long tables and forms ranged down the sides of the hall. These, with a pavement of encaustic tiles, and a good-sized andiron on a central hearth, would at once restore the hall to its primal appearance, and enable the least imaginative visitor to realize with little mental exertion a royal hall of the Tudor era. Adjoining the hall, and forming an admirable pendant to it, is the withdrawing-room. The walls of this room are also hung with tapestry, but of inferior design to that in the hall. In this room is another bay-window, of great beauty, and of very uncommon form, being semicircular.

From the hall you pass by the "King's Grand Staircase" to the State Apartments, all of which form part of the modern building. The walls of the staircase are covered with the detestable allegories of Verrio's manufacturing, and similar perpetrations deface the ceilings of the rooms to which it leads; but this one notice may suffice for all these abominations, which are alike offensive to the sight, corruptive of the taste, and nauseating to the imagination;-would that some cleanly churchwarden or Scotch Covenanter might have uncontrolled charge of them for a week or two, and free permission to use the white-wash brush!

It will not be expected that I should go through the whole suite of state apartments, describing them and jotting down their contents. They will very well bear to be left to the visitor's own considera