The mansion is of great extent--massive and firm in construction; solemn and stately grandeur is the great characteristic of the time-honoured pile; its general form is square; at each corner is a high tower, square also. The exterior retains all the peculiar features of the age of its erection. The Entrance Hall is large, and fitted up with oak wainscotting and rich old tapestry--said to have been woven from the designs of Rubens. It contains a statue, by Westmacott, of the unhappy Queen whose melancholy history is so intimately associated with that of the founder of Hardwicke. The Minstrel Gallery is still there, recalling the days of its ancient hospitality and festivity. The litho-tint print, from a drawing by Mr. Lake Price, exhibits one of the finest of the apartments--the State-room, or Presence-chamber; the walls are partly of wainscot and partly hung with tapestry--an adornment with which the rooms at Hardwicke are profusely enriched. The cabinets, chairs, and other articles of furniture, are in admirable keeping; and among them is a large table of the time of Elizabeth, curiously inlaid with an odd mixture of heraldic badges, musical instruments, and games. The State-bed shown in the centre of the picture was brought hither from Chatsworth; it is never used, but is kept “for show.” The Picture Gallery extends in length 169 feet; and is filled with family portraits. Scattered about this Gallery are [Illustration] curious specimens of ancient furniture. Among them is an interesting couch, which is said to have belonged to the old House. It is of plain but elegant design: the cushions being elaborately wrought in silk and gold on velvet, that may almost be said to be falling to pieces with age. The passages and two principal staircases are broad, massive, and commodious; here, as in all other parts of the mansion, every available space is covered with tapestry, pictures, rich carved work, or subjects in relief. The house may, indeed, be likened to a richly illuminated black-letter history; every wall tells a story, and every piece of furniture suggests one,--all being of a quaint but impressive character, and in happy unison with each other and with the genius of the place. On the whole, perhaps this famous house is, in all parts and points, as deeply interesting a relic of the olden time as can be found in England. It is a treasury of antiquities, where, in a brief hour or two, a rich store of knowledge may be gained of the size, general character, furniture, and appointments of an English mansion of the seventeenth century. The old Hall, as we have observed, stands very close to that which, for the purpose [Illustration]