The Library, a very handsome room, is on the west side of the Court upon the South Front. It is forty-five feet long, and twenty-two feet wide, stored with the best ancient and modern authors.

Paul Methuen, Esq., married the eldest daughter of the late Sir Henry Paulet St. John Mildmay, Bart., and represented the county in Parliament for several years.

Still Life, a curtain, carpet, fruit, &c. by
Maltese and M. A. Campidoglio.

William, Duke of Guienne, and Count of
Poictieu, ob. 1156.

The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, copied from A. Caracci, by Dominichino.

THE SEAT OF

JAMES EVERARD ARUNDELL, LORD ARUNDELL, OF WARDOUR.

SIR THOMAS ARUNDELL, second son of Sir John Arundell, Knt. of Lanherne in Cornwall, lineal descendant of Roger de Arundell, recorded in Domesday Survey to be possessed of twenty-eight manors in the Counties of Dorset and Wilts, purchased the Castle of Wardour in the reign of Henry VIII.; being engaged with the Duke of Somerset in the conspiracy against the Duke of Northumberland, he was executed with him in 1551. His estates were confiscated, and Wardour Castle was granted to the Earl of Pembroke, of whom it was soon after purchased by Sir Matthew Arundell, eldest son of Sir Thomas Arundell, whose son, Sir Thomas Arundell, distinguished himself by his heroic valour at the siege of Gran in Hungary, where with his own hand he seized the Turkish standard. His exploits were rewarded by the patent of the Emperor Rodolph II., dated Prague, 14th December, 1595, creating him and his descendants Counts of the empire. King James I., in 1605, elevated him to the English peerage, by the title of Baron Arundell of Wardour.

The old Castle, in early times the residence of the families of St. Martin, Lovel, Tuchet Lord Audley, and Willoughby de Broke, was greatly enlarged and embellished by Sir Matthew Arundell, in the reign of Elizabeth. During the Civil Wars, it was heroically defended by Blanche, Lady Arundell, against the superior Parliamentary forces, to whom she was at last compelled to surrender it, in May, 1643; when a garrison, under the command of General Ludlow, took possession of it, but was soon dislodged by the disinterested patriotism of Lord Arundell, who caused a mine to be sprung, and thus effected the destruction of his own Castle and residence, which from that period has ceased to be a Mansion.

In 1770, Henry, the eighth Lord Arundell, commenced the building of the present stately edifice, upon the designs of Paine; it was completed and inhabited in 1776.

The situation is on an eminence, distant about a mile from the old Castle, whose ivymantled ruins, rising from the level area at the foot of a beautiful amphitheatrical hill richly clothed with wood, now constitutes the most prominent and picturesque object from the eastern windows. The plan of the House, designed upon an Italian model, consists of a square centre and two wings, connected by a curvilinear corridor; a rusticated basement runs round the whole edifice.

The North Front contains four rows, of nine windows each, in the basement and first stories, the Mezzaninas, and Attics, and is decorated with a projecting cornice and modillions. In the centre, a pediment, embracing the three centre windows, relieves the uniform plainness of the surface by a projection of about a foot.

The Southern Front presents a richer character of architecture, having six three-quarter fluted Corinthian columns to support the entablature and pediment; the outer columns are coupled, the plinths nearly touching; niches for statues fill the intercolumniation on each side the centre, which is occupied by a large semicircular window.

The whole is built of a fine white calcarious stone found on the spot.

The entrance in the North Front admits into a vestibule, 30 feet by 40 feet, opening into the great staircase, which is of circular form, and possesses singular architectural beauty; it occupies the centre of the House; lofty fluted Corinthian columns support the cupola, which admits the light; heraldic cognizances of the family adorn the frieze; musical trophies fill the dies of the soffit; a double flight of steps leads to the Corridor round the staircase 144 feet in circumference, which, through doors placed in deep recesses, opens a communication with a connected suite of ten principal apartments in the centre, and with a range of numerous rooms in the Wings. The Kitchen and Offices are in the East Wing; the Western wing contains the Chapel, which measures 95 feet in length, 40 in breadth, and 40 in height; both extremities are semicircular. On the East, four Corinthian columns support the Tribune appropriated to the organ and choir. The Sanctuary,

enclosing the Altar, was enlarged, upon designs upon Soane, by recesses on each side, containing galleries supported by two Scagliola columns, and two pilasters of Sienna marble, with gilt capitals and white marble bases; beneath it are several monuments of individuals of the family whose remains are interred in the vaults under the Chapel, to which access is given from without.

The Altar, designed and executed at Rome by Giacomo Quirenze, is composed of porphyry, agate, pietre dure, and other rich marbles.

An ancient verd-antique sarcophagus stands within a recess in front; the Tabernacle, in the form of a circular monopteral temple, rises from the centre; the Cupola, of porphyry, supported by columns of jasper, with silver-gilt capitals, upon which is fixed an emblematical image of Religion.

The paintings which adorn this Chapel are copies from Guido and other celebrated masters; the Altar-piece, A dead Christ, is by Giuseppe Cades.

In the Vestry are several very beautiful ornaments and dresses, particularly a chasuble, made for the use of Westminster Abbey, in the time of Henry VII.; it is of crimson velvet, richly embroidered with the white and red roses, pomegranates, fleur de lis, and portcullis; on the back part is worked, in the same style, the representation of Judas betraying Christ. There are many copes and vestments of great richness.

other

The Apartments in this noble Mansion contain an extensive and valuable collection of Pictures, among which are the following.

List of the Pictures at Wardour Castle.

THE MUSIC ROOм, 30 Ft. by 24.

In the centre compartment of the Ceiling is a very spirited copy of Guido's Aurora, by Pompeio Battoni.-Whole-length Portraits of Henry, seventh Lord Arundell, and Mary Arundell, his Wife, Sir J. Reynolds.-Henry, eighth Lord Arundell. Mary Conquest, his Wife, also by Reynolds.—Blanche, Lady Arundell, a copy by Ang. Kauffman of an original.— A Holy Family with Angels, L. Giordano.-Agar in the Desart, P. Battoni.-A Port on fire, Vernet.-The Coast of Naples at Pizzo Falcone, moonlight, Gregorio Fidanza.

THE GREAT DRAWING ROOM.

Two Sea Views, a Calm and a Storm, Vernet.-A Portrait, unknown, of a young man with a band and high-crowned hat, Porbus.-A Lady, Ditto.-A Lady in a Ruff, Matin de Vos. Mirevelt and his Wife, Mirevelt.-A Madonna and Child, copy from Guido, Sasso Ferrato.-A Madonna and Child, Sasso Ferrato.-A Head of Jesus, Barocci.-Two Landscapes with groups of figures, Salvator Rosa.-Moses striking the Rock, Bescher-The Israelites gathering Manna, Ditto.-Two Sea Views, La Croix.-Two Landscapes, Mompfort, a Fleming.-Two small ditto, Orizonti.-The Virgin, after Raffaelle, Sasso Ferrato.-Two large Landscapes, Luca

telli.

THE LITTLE DRAWING ROOM, 29 Ft. by 24.

Two large Landscapes, Salvator Rosa.-Two Landscapes, Gaspar Poussin.-Two Ditto, Salvator Rosa.-Three Snow Views, Fran. Foschi.-Robbers in a Wood, Teniers.-Two very spirited Sketches of our Saviour bearing the Cross, and a Crucifixion, Salvator Rosa-Two small Landscapes, Velvet Breughel.-Tobit going to meet his Son, said to be by Gerard Douw. Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalen.-A copy from Breughel, on copper.-A Copy from Pietro di Cortona, ditto.

THE SALOON, 40 Ft. by 25.

The Descent from the Cross, Spagnoletto, large.--A Shepherd playing on the Bagpipes, with his Dog and an Ass standing by him, Michael Angelo da Caravagio.-Joseph interpreting the Dreams of Pharaoh's Butler and Baker, Christian Van Kauwenberg.-Infant Jesus sleeping on a Cross, Guido.A very fine and admired Holy Family, by Andrea del Sarto, after Raphael.-A Madonna and Child, with St. John, Parmegiano. St. Jerome, Rubens.-St. Bernardin of Sienna,

Titian.-A dead Christ with Angels, Trevisani.—The Virgin fainting, supported by two women, Trevisani.-Constantine's Victory over Maxentius, Filippo Lauri, after Raphael at the Vatican.-Jacob's Journey with his Family into Egypt; and Jacob met by his Son Joseph, Nic. Poussin, on diaper.-Two large Landscapes with Figures, Carlo Labruzzi.-Head of the Virgin, Carlo Dolce.-Head of a Hermit contemplating a skull, Salvator Rosa.-Head of St. Bernard, Dom. Feti.Head of an Old Woman reading, Lanfranc.-Interior of a Calvinist Church, P. Neefs.—Interior of the Cathedral of Antwerp, Ditto.-A Groom and White Horse, Rembrandt.Two excellent Sketches, by Nic. Poussin, of the Death of Abel and Sacrifice of Isaac.-Trumpeters refreshing themselves at an Inn, Wouvermans.-Old Woman peeling Apples, D. Teniers. Surprise of Convoy, D. Stoop.-Two Sea Views, La Croix.-Two Sea-ports, Manglard.-Öld Woman looking at a Piece of Money, Rubens.-Head of St. Francis, Corregio.

THE LIBRARY, 30 Ft. by 24.

Portrait of Cardinal Ca. Rezzonico, Vincenzo Rodigliard. -Pope Benedict XIV. (Rezzonico), Pompeio Battoni.-Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rezzonico, Maron.-A Child of the Medici Family with a little Dog, Titian.-Albert, Duke of Saxony, Giorgione.-Cardinal Pole, P. Labruzzi.—Monsignor Giacomelli, private Secretary to Pope Benedict XIV., Vincenzo Robigliard.-Three Children of King Charles I., Wickstedt. -Mount Vesuvius and the adjacent scenes, with the story of Pliny's Death, Volaire.-A View of Mount Etna, Volare.

THE DINING ROOM, 30 Ft. by 24.

Portrait of Thomas Arundell, second Son of the fourth Lord Arundell, with a black servant. He was killed at the battle of the Boyne, 1689, P. Labruzzi, from a small original.-The Hon. Henry Arundell, second Son of the third Lord Arundell.-Mary Scrope, Wife of Hon. Henry Arundell.-Thomas, first Lord Arundell of Wardour, ob. 1639, Vandyck.-Colonel, the Hon. William Arundell, second Son of first Lord Arundell, P. Longsing, from a small original.-Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland, Vandyck.-An unknown Head, Vandyck.-Head of a Youth, Andrea Camasie, or Camace.-Portrait of Anne, daughter of the first Lord Arundell, Wife of Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Cecily Arundell, daughter of the third Lord Arundell, a nun of the order of Poor Clares, at Rouen.-Anne Wyndham, daughter and heiress of John Wyndham, Esq. of Ashcombe, and wife of the Hon. James Everard Arundell.-Sir Wadham Wyndham.