His son Henry, ninth Earl, is the nobleman to whom we have just referred as memorable for the charge of being privy to the gunpowder plot, 1605." Syon was again thoroughly repaired by Algernon Percy, tenth Earl of Northumberland, under the superintendence of Inigo Jones, and in 1647, when the alarm of the Civil War had reached its height, was selected as an asylum for the royal children. Here the ill-fated Monarch occasionally visited them, and here they remained until their removal to Penshurst and the care of the Countess of Leicester. From that period to the present, the lords of Sion House continued to be the chiefs of the illustrious House of Percy, a house not more famous in arms than distinguished for its alliances, pre-eminent for the number and rank of the families it represents, and entitled to a banner of nearly nine hundred armorial ensigns. In 1692, Syon became the temporary residence of the Princess of Den. mark, during the misunderstanding occasioned between Her Highness and the Queen, by the influence of the Duchess of Marlborough, and has since, at various times, been graced by the presence of royalty. The structure is of magnificent dimensions, faced with Bath stone, and built in a quadrangular form, and forms one of the most conspicuous ornaments of the silvery Thames. Its great beauty consists in its massive size, fair proportions, and the solidity of its parts. The centre is occupied by a flower garden about eighty feet square. The house is three stories high. The chief entrance is by a flight of stone steps, the east front, facing the Thames, being supported by arches, which form a fine cloisteral arcade. It is flat roofed and surrounded with battlements, each of the four angles being surmounted by a square turret embattled like the other parts of the building. The general outline of the structure would appear to remain as left by the Protector Somerset, various repairs however have evidently much altered the detail of his architectural arrangement. Considerable improvements were made under the direction of Robert Adam, by the present Duke's grandfather. The house is fronted by a lawn of some extent, terminated by two stone lodges embattled in the same manner as the house. Towards the Thames, the lawn is bounded by a lake, and a meadow which is cut down into a gentle slope, so that the surface of the water may be seen even from the state apartments which are on the ground floor; by this arrangement the most beautiful piece of scenery imaginable is brought into view from two of the principal fronts. Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire. O fanious York ! The Institutions of England are of England, and England alone—the fruitful sources of alarm, jealousy, and wonderment for a thousand years to surrounding nations,—denounced by some as visionary,—imitated by others as beautiful and perfect, but rivalled successfully by none. England's Institutions are still, then, of England, and England alone. This observation, an acknowledged truism, applies with the greatest force to her rural economy—the palaces of her nobles, the halls of her gentry, and the homesteads of her yeomen,-each the type, in some degree, of its respective proprietor, -the palace, embattled and exclusive,—the hall, embowered and attractive, —the farm-house, cheerful, and picturesque,-all studding that luxuriant domestic landscape which Wilson so faithfully painted, and Bloomfield so graphically described. "The ancient and hereditary seats that embower this island,” says Washington Irving, “ are most of them full of story. They are haunted by the recollections of great spirits of past ages, who have sought for relaxation among them from the tumult of arms or the toils of state, or who wooed the Muse beneath their shade. Who can walk with soul unmoved among the stately groves of Penshurst, where Sydney passed his boyhood; or can look without fondness upon the tree that is said to have been planted on his birthday; or can ramble among the classic bowers of Hagley; or can pause among the solitudes of Windsor Forest, and look at the oaks around, huge, grey, and time-worn, like the old Castle towers, and not feel as if he were surrounded by so many monuments of long-enduring glory? It is then, when viewed in this light, that planted groves and stately avenues, turreted castles and cultivated parks, have an advantage over the more luxuriant beauties of unassisted Nature; it is then that they teem with moral associations, and keep up the ever-interesting story of human existence. It is incumbent, then, on the high and generous spirit of an ancient nation to cherish these sacred groves that surround their ancestral mansions, and to perpetuate them to their descendants. I can both see and feel how hereditary distinction, when it falls to the lot of a generous mind, may elevate that mind into true nobility. It is one of the effects of hereditary rank, when it falls thus happily, that it multiplies the duties, and, as it were, extends the existence of the possessor. He carries back his existence in pro ud recollection, and he extends it forward in honourable anticipation. He lives with his ancestry, and he lives with his posterity: to both does he consider himself involved in deep responsibility. As he has received much from those that have gone before, so he feels bound to transmit much to those who are to come after him. His domestic undertakings seem to imply a longer existence than those of ordinary men, None are so apt to build and plant for future centuries as noble-spirited men who have received their heritages from foregone ages." The estate of Wentworth Castle has peculiar claims to a leading position among “ the Lands of England,” from its being situated in the great county of York, and from its being still possessed by a branch of the historic family of Wentworth. It stands on the site of the Old Hall of Stainborough, and was erected about the year 1730 by Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford of the second creation. The parish, that of Silkston, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in which it is situated, boasts besides of two other splendid residences, Cannon Hall and Bretton. Stainborough, whose name is almost forgotten in that of Wentworth Castle, was purchased from the Everinghams at the close of the sixteenth century, by the Cutlers, a family which, like so many others, owed its rise to the profession of the law, for all accounts concur in representing the first John Cutler as Antient-Bearer to Sir Nicholas Wortley. His grandson, Sir Gervase Cutler, made two fortunate marriages; the first, with Elizabeth, coheiress of Sir John Bentley, knight, of Rolleston, in Staffordshire, and the second, with one of the fair daughters of John, Earl of Bridgewater. This latter alliance was solemnised in 1633, the year before the Masque of Comus was presented by the lady's brothers and sisters in the castle of Ludlow, and is commemorated in some elegant verses hy Abraham France, the poet. Brief, however, was the term of happiness that awaited the nuptials : the civil war broke out : Sir Gervase arrayed himself under the royal banner, raised a considerable force at his own expense, and conveyed the family plate to Pontefract to be coined for the king's exchequer. He there died in 1645, leaving his widow at eight-and-lwenty with a large family and in much distress. Her son, the second Sir Gervase Cutler, of Stainborough, was not of a disposition to prop up the falling fortunes of his house. He is stated to have been of extravagant and dissolute habits; but tradition has not handed down of him so sad a history as of his relative and neighbour Sir William Reresby, of Thribergh, who staked and lost on a single main his beautiful demesne of Dennaby. Sir Gervase left but little to a very numerous family, and his descendants, who through his mother, the Lady Magdalene Egerton, were in direct line from the Tudors and Plantagenets, sunk into absolute obscurity. About the period of his decease, which occurred in 1705, Stainborough was sold to Thomas Wentworth, Lord Raby, a nobleman highly distinguished as a military and diplomatic character in the reigns of William III. and Queen Anne, and remembered as the principal English minister at the treaty of Utrecht. His grandfather, Sir William Wentworth, of Ashby, in Lincolnshire (who fell at Marston Moor,) was brother of Thomas Wentworth, the memorable and ill-fated Earl of Strafford. The purchaser of Stainborough, in his retirement from public life, spent most of his time there, rebuilding the mansion in great splendour, and ornamenting it with enlarged and beautified grounds. He introduced many valuable paintings he had purchased wbile abroad, and Stainborough, under its new appellation of Wentworth, assumed a far grander appearance than even in the best times of its former owner. His son and successor, William, second Earl of Strafford, erected the east front in 1770, rendering the present castle, with its noble apartments, its sumptuous galleries, its sylvan park, its verdant plains and exquisite gardens, one of the finest seats in Yorkshire. The interior of this stately pile accords well with its outward grandeur. The right side of the hall opens to a drawing-room 40 feet by 25. The chimney-piece, supported by two pillars of sienna marble wreathed with white, has a striking effect. The dining-room measures 25 feet by 30, and the gallery, to which a handsome and lofty staircase conducts, is one of the most magnificent in England, 180 feet long by 24 broad and 30 high. From the platform of grass within the castle wall, a splendid prospect presents itself on all sides, and the centre of the court stands a statue of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, the purchaser of the estate. The third and last Earl, Frederick Thomas Wentworth, died at his seat Henbury, in Dorsetshire, in 1799, leaving his sister his heiress. That lady, Augusta Hatfield Kaye, wife of John Hatfield Kaye, Esq. of Hatfield Hall, in Yorkshire, bequeathed by her will dated 22nd April, 1807, Wentworth Castle, &c. to the Right Honourable Thomas Conolly and his issue male, and in default, to Frederick William Thomas Vernon, Esq. grandson of Henry Vernon, Esq. of Hilton Park, co. Stafford, by the Lady Henrietta Wentworth, his wife, third daughter of Thomas, Earl of Stratford. Mr. Vernon eventually inherited the estates, and having assumed the additional surname of Wentworth, is their present possessor. Little of historical recollection dwells about the spot, and of romance, nothing The following remarkable discovery, which was made at the foundation of the present house, is narrated in the papers of Wilson of Bromhead : “ When Lord Strafford was making the south front the workmen, in digging the foundations in 1762 or 1763, found a square place walled round like a grave, in which lay a man in armour, which being touched fell to ashes. My lord sent some of the armour to the Royal Society and to Mr. Walpole, who judged by the form that it was of the age of the Conquest. My lord showed me two pieces of the armour, which was made of wire and studded with silver, one of which he gave me, with two pieces of the cloth, one thicker than the other, and some of the bones.” Arundel Castle, co. Susser. Since William rose and Harold fell, "The Castle of Arundel,” says Dr. Beattie, “enjoys a twofold celebrity, in its great antiquity and in its peculiar privilege of conferring the title of Earl on its possessor. The former reverts to a period much anterior to the Conquest : the latter was hereditary in the eleventh century, and confirmed by Act of Parliament, 11 Henry VI. But its chief and enduring interest is derived from the long list of warriors and statesmen whose names are identified with the place ; and whose deeds during the lapse of eight centuries have shed lustre on the national history." Although the castle and town are mentioned in King Alfred's will, it was not until the Conquest that the honour of Arundel first assumes that dignified and important character by which it has since continued to be distinguished from every other in the kingdom. The grantee from the Conqueror was his kinsman Roger de Montgomery, a nobleman of extensive possessions in Normandy, who commanded the centre division of the victorious army at Hastings, and, in requital, received the two earldoms of Shrewsbury and Arundel, with a great extent of territory, exceeding, in Sussex alone, 57,000 acres. In this immense property Montgomery was established in 1071, and during a period of twenty-three years he continued to derive from it the princely revenue by which he was enabled to maintain a splendour and rank, surpassing even the feudal luxury of the times. His death occurred in 1094, when his estates devolved, by will, on his younger son, Hugh, and from him passed in 1098, on payment of a fine to the king of £3000, to his elder brother Robert, Earl of Belesme. This celebrated adherent of Duke Robert of Normandy, sided with that illfated Prince on his contest with Henry I., and lost, in consequence, his vast demesnes, which became forfeited to the king; whereupon the honour of Arundel, together with its castle, was resumed by the Crown. Shortly after, the monarch settled Arundel in dower on his wife Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey of Lorraine, and that Royal Lady, marrying for her second husband, the famous William de Albini, conveyed whatever interest she possessed in the property to that renowned soldier, whose services in the cause of the Empress Maud were rewarded by Henry II. by a grant of the Castle and Honour of Arundel, to him and his heirs for ever.” With the Albinis the lordship continued until the decease in 12-13, without issue of Hugh de Albini, fourth Earl of Arundel. On the occurrence of that event his estates were divided, under a special commission from the crown, amongst his four sisters, the precept for this purpose dated 27 Nov. 1243 (28 Henry III.) is directed to Geoffry de Langley, and authorizes him to assign to Robert de Tateshall, son to Mabel, eldest of the four sisters, the castle and manor of Buckenham, in Norfolk; to Roger de Somery, husband of Nichola, another sister, the manor of Barwe or Barewe, in Cheshire; to Roger de Montalto, who had married Cicily, a third sister, the castle and manor of Rysinges, in Norfolk, and to John FITZALAN, son of Isabel, the second sister, and nephew to the deceased Hugh, the castle and manor of Arundel with all its appurtenances. Langley subjected the honour of Arundel to a special division and allotted a portion of its possessions to each of the coheirs. To Fitzalan however the largest part was assigned, and the ten hundreds, forests, chases and other liberties, together with forty-four knights fees, and a fraction still continued to be attached to it. Of this property he obtained possession the same year, and was afterwards succeeded on it by six earls his lineal descendants. By Edmund however, the third, as well as by Richard the fifth, in the order of the inheritance, it was forfeited to the crown ; yet being restored to their respective sons, it was transmitted in regular succession till it vested in Thomas, sixth and last Earl-in the direct male line, who died without issue in 1415, leaving three surviving sisters his coheirs. But his grandfather, Richard, Earl of Arundel, probably with a view to prevent the further division of the honour, had in 1347 (21 Edward III.) entailed it, first on his wife Alianor, for the term of her natural life, and then on the heirs male of his own body, begotten with the said Alianor, with remainders over; and, on the demise of Thomas, therefore it passed entire to his second cousin, John Fitzalan, Lord Maltravers, who accordingly obtained liberty of it in 1416. It now descended, uninterruptedly, through a succession of seven Earls of the united families of Fitzalan and Maltravers, of whom Henry, who died in 1580, was the last. His only son had died in 1556, and his two daughters therefore-Joan married to Lord Lumley, and Mary, wife of Tuomas HOWARD, DUKE of Norfolk, succeeded as his co-heirs. Of these ladies, the elder left no surviving issue : the younger, consequently, became sole heiress, and with her descendants, the illustrious Howards, renowned as heroes, poets, and politicians, this magnificent heritage still remains. The Castle stands high upon a circular knoll, partly artificial, and commands an extensive prospect over the low flat country towards the sea as far as the Isle of Wight. The site was chosen ages ago by those who so well knew how to “pitch their tents” amidst the natural charms of mountain and valley and stream; and then to rear those noble baronial towers, which in some measure compensate posterity for the injustice of their original right and the roughness of their after rule. As a monument of feudal power, however, Arundel Castle will not bear comparison with other more grand structures of former ages; although in the south of England it is unsurpassed. If it were now the actual restoration of what it was, instead of being, as it is, more a creation of architectural taste or caprice on an ancient site and foundation, still there is something about it so delicately elaborate as to destroy the idea of vastness and massiveness. Windsor Castle, seen through a diminishing glass, would give you some tangible conception of its general aspect. The |