period, when Elizabeth resided in England, widowed in love as well as ruined in hopes, she found consolation in the tenderness of William Lord Craven, and was privately married to him, though political motives forbade the public avowal of her nuptials. By will she bequeathed to this nobleman her collection of pictures, including many original portraits of distinguished persons brought from Germany. THE GREAT GALLERY is entirely hung with portraits, among which are half-lengths of the king and queen of Bohemia, and of the princes Rupert and Maurice, by Honthorst. Charles the Second, at the age of fourteen, in armour richly studded with gold. Black hair falling on the shoulders, and the features precisely those of advanced life, with an allowance for the variation of age. Gustavus Adolphus, the great friend of the elector palatine; a spirited and fine portrait. William Earl of Craven, armed and ornamented with a sash. When the fortune of the elector was sunk beyond a hope of restoration, his lordship entered into the Dutch service; and, although he forbore to interfere with the politics of his native country, his estates were confiscated by the Parliament during the civil war. While looking on this portrait we should not forget the philanthropy aud firmness with which Lord Craven braved the horrors of Pestilence during the plague of 1665, with a view to the preservation of civic good order. We cannot quit the numerous collection in the gallery without noticing a fine portrait of Sir Kenelm Digby, by Vandyck, in his best manner. In the anic-room to this gallery are several very estimable cabinet pictures. The apartment now termed THE BREAKFAST ROOM is of magnificent dimensions, and was fitted up for the reception of Queen Elizabeth. The ceiling is well stuccoed, and the pannels of the sides are abundantly carved. Over the rich chimneypiece are the Queen's Arms and initials. The principal pictures are five very large and fine landscapes, with figures, by J. Lootens, in one of which is introduced a person drawing, probably intended for the portrait of himself. THE NORTH PARLOUR Is likewise of noble proportions, and presents the same aspect as when visited by some of the august persons whose portraits now form its most attractive ornaments. The sides are of wainscot, and the massy fire-irons of a past century still occupy the wide hearth. Among the numerous pictures we must be satisfied to notice the following; Frederic V. King of Bohemia, by Houthorst; a whole length. The king is represented in armour, with a yelvét surcoat lined with ermine. The crown, so little worn and so full of cares, on his head, and the inefficient sceptre in his hand. This is a fine portrait, but has more mildness of character expressed in the countenance than would seem suited to so turbulent a destiny. Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia,* by the same artist, This is likewise a whole length. The queen is in black, richly adorned with pearls. So much depends on those nameless graces of manner which deride the last result of pictorial art, that we look in vain to the imaged countenance of Elizabeth for the lustrous charms • This unfortunate princess frequently visited Combe Abbey, in early life, while the mansion was the property of the accomplished Lord Harrington, to whom was entrusted the care of her tuition. Houthorst, by whom this portrait was executed, instructed Elizabeth in the art which he professed. eharms that enslaved alike the poet and the soldier. Female self-esteem trusts to a precarious ordeal, when it hopes to transmit, on cold canvas, to a future age, the look which enchants contemporaries. The form of Elizabeth was by no means conspicuous for elegance; and the conntenance would rather appear to express a sullen humour than the habitual melancholy observable in the features of many of the Stuart family. James, Duke of Richmond, a fiue whole length by Vandyck. The duke is in black velvet, his hand resting on a beautiful and favourite greyhound. This nobleman, it will be recollected, avowed his readiness to sacrifice life for the preservation of his royal master and friend, Charles I. The age was too much wanting in such noble spirits; and the duke is said to have proved the sincerity of his professions by speedily sinking to the grave through sorrow, when he found that his votive life was incapable of preserving his friend and king. THE VANDYCK ROOM commands a good view over the park, which here displays, in an advantageons point, the fine spread of water that is its great ornament. The paintings in this apartment are truly estimable. We select for notice Prince Rupert, in youth, and Prince Maurice at the same period of life; two excellent whole lengths by the artist after whom the room is named. The features of Prince Rupert are well known to express the bold, but rough and imperious cast of his temper. In early life those indications were less strongly marked, and seldom has the art of painter been exercised on more genuine nobility of figure. Prince Maurice was lost at sea before his character had opportunities of deliberate development. In feature he much resembled his brother, but in general expresssion there is less of rude grandeur, though equal boldBess and fire. Of this latter personage we believe there is no engraving extant. E 4 A beautiful A beautiful family piece, containing portraits of Charles I. and his Queen, on one canvas, by Vandyck *. This picture was executed at the desire of the Queen of Bohemia, sister to Charles, and is one of the paintings possessed by the Craven family in consequence of the bequest of that personage to the first Earl. The elegant and attractive Henrietta Maria is in the act of presenting to her consort a wreath for the head, which she is supposed to have just woven. The king was evidently drawn in an hour of domestic comfort, and his countenance is free from the portentous cloud of care that imparts "melancholy to many of his portraits. The dimensions of this curious picture are about two feet six by one foot six, and the figures are shewn three quarter length. Sir A. Van Dyck by himself. A fine portrait of a truly great artist. Brughel, Teniers, and Rubens, have also pictures of much interest in this apartment. In the YELLOW DRAWING ROOM is a representation of Christ and St. John, in a landscape, by Rubens; and a portrait of the Duchess of Cleveland, by Lely. The gay duchess appears handsomer on this canvas than she is usually painted, but the face is replete with unpleasing confidence. The bosom is exposed in a coarse and degrading manner. THE GILT PARLOUR is a room of fine proportions, and well adapted to family comfort. The pictures are not very numerous, but are selected with great taste, and contain some excellent productions of Rembrandt, Zoust, Miereveld, and Vandyck. Among these it would be unpardonable not to notice A Student with his preceptor, and A Father instructing his Son, two exquisite pieces by Rembrandt. The conception is masterly, and the colouring amazingly fine. Here • In the catalogue preserved at Combe Abbey this painting is erroneously said to be by Oliver, after Vandyck. Here is, also, a whole length of William Earl of Craven, in armour, with a baton in his hand, by Houthorst. IN THE BEAUTY PARLOUR are twenty-two portraits of ladies, some of which are by Sir P. \ Lely. The small apartment termed THE CEDAR ROOM is embellished with several interesting specimens of the pictorial art, among which will be observed A Sea-Picce, by Willarts, with the Queen of Bohemia on her passage to Holland; and Moses with the Brazen Serpent, by Rubens. The above are the rooms usually submitted to the inspection of the curious. The more private apartments are, likewise, uniformly adorned by productions of the noble art that is so admirably calculated to shed lustre on the mansions of the elevated. The village of BINLEY, situate near the western border of Combe Park, is conspicuous for its church, a building erected by the late Earl of Craven, and opened for religious service in the year 1772. This structure is of a remarkably decorous character; unassuming yet respectable, and enriched, though not profusely ornamented. The coved roof is embellished with medallions expressive of scriptural history, and with thorny crowns and other circumstances of pious allusion. The altar is in a tribune, with marble pillars; and the east window is filled with painted glass, representing a Holy Family, by Mr. William Pecket. At Binley was born the Rev. Thomas Wagstaffe, a clergyman of the church of England, who long resided at Rome, in character of Protestant chaplain to the "Pretender." He was author of a Defence of Charles I. and died at Rome in the year 1770. * the |