This apartment is stated, and with every good reason, to be without exception the most elegant room in Great Britain! Let other scribes presume, if they will, to attempt a description of this sumptuous hall of state,—_we_, for our part, shrink dismayed from the task. To do anything like justice to its manifold merits would require far more time, and infinitely greater powers, than _we_ have at command; let us be content, then, shortly and without parade, to point out a few of its prevailing features. Measuring nearly eleven yards square, the graceful arches intersecting the angles invest it with quite an octagonal appearance. From these, and the walls, springs the roof, with its majestic dome of dazzling splendour—a matchless epitome of all that is rich, chaste, and beautiful in decorative art. The prevailing colours are crimson, blue, and gold, and these so judiciously blended that the eye never tires in its fascinating mission; but still gazing upwards, allured and bewildered, finds new beauties and richer charms, the longer one remains in this wondrous SALOON. From the marble base springs a lofty fretwork of painted mosaic, in close imitation of the Ambassador’s Court in the Alhambra Palace,—that peerless relic of old Moorish magnificence. Higher still range panels and medallions, apparently in high relief; but this curious effect is a mere illusion of the painter, for the whole of the walls are perfectly flat. Five handsome landscapes, also painted on the walls, adorn this Saloon, four being the work of Mr. Telbin, of London,—and the fifth the production of Mr. John Morris, of Chester, to whose talented management the entire decorative arrangements were confided. The imitation basso-relievos over the doors are the work of a humble but talented artist, the late William Tasker, of Chester. The windows of the Saloon are in perfect consonance with the apartment itself, and contain six handsome figures, representing “William the Conqueror” and his uncle “Odo, Bishop of Bayeux;” “Sir Gilbert le Grosvenor,” nephew of King William, and an imaginary portrait of his wife; “Sir Robert le Grosvenor” (of Scroope and Grosvenor notoriety); and “Joan Pulford,” his wife. The view from these windows, which open out to the TERRACE and cloistered arcade on the East side of the Hall, is one of rich and varied beauty. In the foreground we see the elegant TERRACE, GARDENS, and LAKE; and just beyond, catch here and there a glimpse of the “tortuous Dee.” Between yon avenue of trees, and some sixteen miles away, the landscape ends with the towering, rain-clad hill of Beeston, and the noble baronial Castle of Peckforton. Our woodcut illustration of the HALL is taken from near the Terrace beneath us, which is perhaps the best point for viewing to perfection this side of the mansion. Turning again to the Saloon, our eyes rest on the massive and elegant folding door of carved oak, which, thrown open, reveals to us the great ENTRANCE HALL.