Having now considered the historical records of Hampton Court Palace, we proceed, before ascending to the state apartments, to give a short account of that strictly modern portion of the building in which they, together with the King's and Queen's staircases, are contained.

The FOUNTAIN COURT, or EASTERN QUADRANGLE as it is also called, was built in 1690. Its dimensions are one hundred and ten feet by one hundred and seventeen feet. A beautiful colonnade of the Ionic order, with duplicated columns, encircles the quadrangle. The side opposite the grand entrance, which, it will be observed, is without the superincumbent attic of the others, is a portion of the old palace; the front only, occupied by a room called in the guide-books the Portrait Gallery, is the work of Wren. In the area is a grass plat railed in, with, in the centre, a circular basin, with a small fountain playing, and captive carp and gold-fish navigating their watery prison.

This court occupies the site of the chief or grand court, described by Hentzner, about one hundred years before, as "paved with square stone, and having in its centre a fountain which throws up water, covered with a gilt crown, on the top of which is a statue of Justice, supported by columns of black and white marble." The pedestals, formerly supporting statues by Fanelli, still remain; the statues having been carried off to Windsor together with the vases of the gardens, and placed in the sunk garden opposite the east front of the Castle, where they yet remain.

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Above the first-floor windows are the Labours of Hercules, the work of Laguerre, in design very stiff, in composition meagre, in colouring tame and flat, and every way contemptible as works of art.

The general effect of the interior of this quadrangle is sombre and melancholy-that of an ornamental cloister: but this is the ordinary result of narrow spaces enclosed with lofty buildings on every side, dribbling fountains and little fishes-prisoners of state.

The Chapel, participating in the style of various epochs, and having undergone alterations in successive reigns, we cannot assign particularly to any one period; the description subjoined has been taken from the work of Mr. Lysons.

"To the north-west of the Fountain Court stands the chapel, which forms the south side of a small quadrangle; it appears to have been part of King Henry VIII.'s building, and to have been finished by that monarch in 1536 or 1537 his arms impaled with Seymours', and the initials H. P. (joined together by a truelover's-knot), several times repeated, occur on each side of the door. Before the civil war, this chapel was ornamented with stained glass and pictures, which were demolished in 1645, as appears by the following paragraph taken from a weekly paper of that date:-'Sir Robert Harlow gave order (according to the ordinance of parliament) for the pulling down and demolishing of the Popish and superstitious pictures in Hampton Court, where this day the altar was taken down, and the table brought into the body of the church, the rails pulled down and the steps levelled, and the Popish pictures and superstitious images that were in the glass windows were also demolished, and order given for the new glazing them with plain glass; and among the rest, there was pulled down the picture of Christ nailed to the cross, which was placed right over the altar, and the pictures of Mary Magdalen, and others weeping by the foot of the cross, and some other such idolatrous pictures, were pulled down and demolished.'

"The chapel was fitted up in its present state by Queen Anne; it is paved with black and white marble, and pewed with Norway oak. The carving is by Gibbons. The original roof remains-a plain, gothic pattern, with pendent ornaments. Hentzner, who visited England in Queen Elizabeth's reign, speaks of the chapel as most splendid; and says that the queen's closet was transparent, with windows of crystal."

Notwithstanding our regret that the palace of Wolsey should have been interfered with, and that the glaring architectural anachronism of Wren should ever have been permitted to be raised upon its ruins, we must be content to take the palace as we find it, and direct the tourist to the grand staircase, painted by Verrio, of whose merit as an artist, when we have said that he had a free and ready pencil, we have said enough.

The subjects are, as usual in such cases, mythological, with supposed allusions to the marriage of the Thame and Isis: upon the ceiling we observe Jupiter and Juno seated upon a rich throne, with Ganymede riding upon Jupiter's eagle, and presenting him the cup. Juno's peacock is in the front, and one of the fatal sisters is waiting with her scissors in her hand, ready to cut the thread of life, should Jove give her orders. The reader will smile when he is told that this pictorial nonsense conceals a courtier's compliment to royalty: the peacock being an emblem of the grandeur of William and Mary; the Destiny denotes their influence over their subjects; and the Zephyrs represent their mild and courteous disposition towards them.

This is amusing-flattery laid on with paint, and both so very thick!

Staircases being made to ascend or descend, and few things being more unpleasant than to stand on a step craning one's eyes to the ceiling or the walls, where we have not light to see nor time to criticise, we shall not dwell further upon explanation of the paintings of the staircase, but pass forward

at once to

THE GUARD CHAMBER;

A large and well-proportioned room, sixty feet long, forty feet wide, and thirty feet high, containing arms for a thousand men, and halberts for the yeomen of the guard, disposed in fanciful forms by one Harris, a gunner, who also arranged those in the Little Armoury in the Tower of London; a mode of making instruments of death subservient to purposes of decoration pretty enough, and even useful, if one could have assurance that their ornamental arrangement might never more be disturbed.

The pictures in each room, with the name of the master, we give in the order in which they are placed in the official catalogue of the place.

1 The Battle between Constantine and Max- | 45 Calumny, an Allegory. T. Zucchero. entius. Giulio Romano.

2 Admiral Sir Stafford Fairbourne. Bockman. 3 Admiral Beaumont.

throne, with the arms, and the motto, "Je 60, 61 Over the doors are pieces of Ruins.

Around the room are full-length portraits 62, 63, 64 Over the doors are pieces of Ruins.

33 An old Woman blowing Charcoal. Holbein. 79 Alexander de' Medici. Titian. 34 A Portrait. Dobson.

35 The Overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host.

95 The Marriage of St. Catherine. P. Vero- 138 Triumph of Venus. G. Romano.

99 Jacob, Rachael, and Leah. Guido Cagnacci. 143 Buildings, with figures. 100 Jacob's Journey. Bassano.

101 Peter Oliver, the Painter. Hannemann. 102 A Dutch Gentleman. Vander Halst. 103 Joseph brought before Pharaoh.