Hardwick, was in 1618 created Earl of Devonshire. It was happily said of him, 'his learning operated on his conduct, but was seldom shown in his discourse.' His son, the third Earl, was a zealous loyalist; like his father, remarkable for his cultivated taste and learning, perfected under the superintendence of the famous Hobbes of Malmesbury. His eldest son, William, was the first Duke of Devonshire; the friend of Lord Russell, and one of the few who fearlessly testified to his honor on his memorable trial. Wearied of courts, he retired to Chatsworth, which at that time was a quadrangular building, with turrets in the Elizabethan taste; and then, 'as if his mind rose upon the depression of his fortune,' says Kennett, 'he first projected the now glorious pile of Chatsworth;' he pulled down the south side of 'that good old seat,' and rebuilt it on a plan 'so fair an august, that it looked like a model only of what might be done in after ages.' After seven years, he added the other sides, 'yet the building was his least charge, if regard be had to his gardens, water-works, statues, pictures, and other the finest pieces of Art and Nature that could be obtained abroad or at home.' He was highly honored with the favor and confidence of William III. and his successor Anne. Dying in 1707, his son William, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, spent the latter part of his life at Chatsworth, dying there in 1755. It is now the favorite country residence of his great grandson, the sixth Duke and ninth Earl of Devonshire. "The Duke's tastes, as evinced at Chatsworth, are of the purest and happiest order;--and are to be found in the adornments of his rooms, the shelves of his library, the riches of his galleries of art, and the rare and beautiful exotic marvels of his gardens and conservatories. Charles Cotton, in his poem, the _Wonders of the Peak_, wrote, two centuries ago, of the then Earl of Devonshire--and no language can apply with greater truth to the Duke who is now master of Chatsworth: "But that which crowns all this, and does impart A lustre far beyond the pow'r of Art, Is the great Owner; He, whose noble mind For such a Fortune only was design'd. Whose bounties, as the Ocean's bosom wide, Flow in a constant, unexhausted tide Of Hospitality, and free access, Liberal Condescension, cheerfulness, Honor and Truth, as ev'ry of them strove At once to captivate Respect and Love: And with such order all perform'd, and grace, As rivet wonder to the stately place." [Illustration: THE EMPEROR FOUNTAIN.]