"Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes, And screams of horror rend th' affrighted skies. Not louder shrieks to pitying heav'n are cast, When husbands or when lapdogs breathe their last, Or when rich china vessels fall'n from high In glitt'ring dust and painted fragments lie!" The Gold Staff Gallery has tragedy as well as comedy in its history, for at one time the other suite formed out of it--that facing south--was occupied by Richard Tickell, grandson of that Thomas Tickell, who, though a poet of some note in his day, is chiefly remembered from his association with Addison. Richard Tickell, who was also a poet and political writer, married as his first wife the beautiful Mary Linley, sister-in-law of Sheridan. On 4 November, 1793, Tickell--who appears to have been financially embarrassed--threw himself from the window of one of his rooms here, and was killed instantly on the gravel path below. Though it was officially decided at the time--thanks, it is believed, to the influence of Sheridan--that it was an accidental death, the historians have no hesitation in describing the tragedy as suicide. [Illustration: THE LONG WALK] VII Fascinating as are the old courts and the galleries with their magnificent art collections, the grounds which surround the Palace are, in their way, no less enticing. Indeed, if we might judge by the thronging crowds in flower time, the gardens form for the majority of visitors the most attractive part of the place. These gardens, wonderfully varied and beautifully kept, are not by any means extensive for so noble a Palace, but they prove an unfailing delight. They are markedly divisible in character into three portions--the north where is the Wilderness and Maze; the south where are the Privy and Pond Gardens, the Great Vine House and Queen Mary's Bower; and the east--or Great Fountain Garden--with its rich herbaceous border along the Broad Walk, its level lawns set with great jewels of floral colour, its compact yews, its radiating walks, its water-lily pond, and beyond the gleaming stretch of the Long Canal and the tall trees that border the Park. In all parts of these gardens are to be seen beauties that delight the eye and linger in the memory, and each of them successively draws the sightseers.