This Colonel Hill, generally known as Colonel Edward Hill the Elder, a gentleman of great wealth, built the mansion at Shirley, where his portrait, brought from England, hangs in the same place, in the same hall in which he had it put up. It represents a youth in pastoral costume, crook in hand, flocks in the background. By a comparison of dates, C. will find it possible for Vandyke to have painted it. (See Bryan's _Engravers and Painters_.) It has descended, along with the estate, to his lineal representative, the present owner. Its authenticity rests upon _tradition_ coupled with the foregoing facts, as far as I know (though the family may have abundant documentary proof), and I doubt very much whether many "Vandykes in England" are better ascertained. I would add that several English gentlemen, among them, as I have heard, a distinguished ambassador recently in this country, recognised it as a Vandyke. This picture, amongst others, was injured by the balls fired from the vessels which ascended the James river, under command of General Arnold, then a British officer. On the younger Mr. Hill's tomb at Shirley is a coat of arms, a copy of which, had I one to send, would probably point out his family in England.[2] As to Colonel Byrd's portrait. There were, I believe, three gentlemen of this name and title, more or less confounded in reputation, the second of whom, generally known as "Colonel Byrd the Elder," by reason of his son's history, was born in 1674. The picture is of his _father_, that is, of "old," or "the first Colonel Byrd," and is in the same style as that of Colonel Hill's, representing a shepherd lad. He was an English gentleman of great wealth, and certainly of some benevolence. In Campbell's _Virginia_, p. 104. (see also Oldmixon, vol. i. p. 427.), it is stated, 1690, a large body of Huguenots were sent to Virginia. "The refugees found in Colonel Byrd, of Westover, a generous benefactor. Each settler was allowed a strip of land running back from the river to the foot of the hill (Henrico County). Here they raised cattle," &c. He sent his son to England to be educated under the care of a friend, Sir Robert Southwell. The son became a Fellow of the Royal Society, "was the intimate and bosom friend of the learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery," was the author of the _Westover MSS._ (mentioned in Oldmixon's preface, 2nd ed.), portions of which, "Progress to the Mines," "History of the Dividing Line," &c., have been printed, others are in the library of the American Philosophical Society.[3] His portrait is "by Kneller, a fine old cavalier face," says Campbell. The letters received at Westover might prove not uninteresting even to C., seeing that there were so many titled people among the writers; and to a gentleman of education and intelligence, the Westover library would have been a treasure-house. In the Loganian Library in this city is a large MS. folio, whose title-page declares it to be "a catalogue of books