We cannot do better than ask our readers to accompany Mr. Parker in his tour through the house. Ascending the staircase on one side of the hall, the company passed through the solar or lord’s chamber, at one end of which Mr. Parker thought the chapel had been originally screened off, and that it was changed into a ball-room in the reign of Queen Anne. The Buckingham Building, which was next visited, was found to have been admirably restored, although it had fallen into a sad state of ruin. Fragments of one of the old windows, however, were discovered, and these enabled the architect to restore it completely. Mr. Parker considered it to be one of the most beautiful instances of restoration he had seen. It gave a most vivid idea of its original state. The company then descended into the lower chamber or parlour of the house of the time of Edward III., which was perfectly preserved, and an excellent example of a mediæval vaulted substructure. Passing to the Elizabethan house, the company entered a suite of rooms elegantly furnished, and containing many exceedingly interesting objects. The chairs were of the time of Charles II., of English manufacture, and the best specimens of that date that could be found. There were also a couch of the same period, and an Augsburg clock of the seventeenth century, some very old and valuable paintings, and choice cabinets of carved ebony. Among other curiosities was an illustration of the funeral procession of Sir Philip Sidney. Mr. Parker then drew attention to the exterior architectural style of the Buckingham Building, added in the time of Richard II., and admirably restored by the architect. The recent restoration of the Elizabethan Building had also been ably done. The windows were especially noticeable, by the skilful manner in which the work had been executed after the style of fragments of the old work. The Elizabethan front was also an object of much interest. The exterior architecture in the servants’ court was a noble composition, full of interest. [Illustration: _The Hall and Minstrels’ Gallery._] Thus the “restorations” have been made in good taste and with sound judgment; and the seat of the Sidneys has regained its rank as one of the finest and most extensive edifices in the county of Kent. In the interior the “Hall” is remarkably fine and interesting, with good architectural features. The pointed timber roof, upon which the slates are laid, is supported by a series of grotesque life-size corbels; and the screen of the gallery is richly carved and panelled. The gallery—“The Minstrels’ Gallery”—fills the side opposite the dais, and the Gothic windows are narrow and lofty. Every object, indeed, calls to mind and illustrates the age of feudalism. The oak tables, on which retainers feasted, still occupy the hall, and in its centre are the huge dogs in an octagonal enclosure, beneath the louvre, or lanthorn, in the roof, which formerly permitted egress to the smoke.