del, by Hudson; Reynolds, by himself, shading his face with a hand; Wilkie, by himself; Dr. Jenner, by Northcote; Burns, by Nasmith; Pitt, a bust by Nollekens; John Hunter, by Jackson; George IV., Wilberforce, and Mackintosh, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, the first, a study for the coinage; Moore the poet, a bust; Wordsworth, by Pickersgill; John Wesley, preaching, by Hone; and Sir Richard Arkwright, by Wright of Derby. ANNUAL EXHIBITIONS OF PICTURES. During the spring and summer there are several exhibitions of pictures, chiefly modern, to which the price of admission is one shilling. Those marked † are the best worth visiting. + Royal Academy, east wing of National Gallery, Trafalgar Square. Sculpture as well as oil paintings. British Artists, Suffolk Street, Pall Mall. British Institution, 52 Pall Mall. (February, March, and April.) French Gallery, 120 Pall Mall. German Gallery, 168 New Bond Street. + Exhibition of the Old Society of Painters in water colours, 5 Pall Mall, East. Exhibition of New Society of Painters in water colours, 53 Pall Mall. At the rooms of the British Institution, 52 Pall Mall, during the months of June, July, and August, there is an exhibition of paintings by the old masters, and deceased British artists, lent by noblemen and gentlemen from their galleries. Here may be inspected excellent pictures which it would be difficult to see at any other time. Admission, one shilling. There are also one or two exhibitions of photographic works, which will be seen advertised in the newspapers. CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH. PRIVATE MANSIONS AND PICTURE GALLERIES, Apsley House-Argyle House-Bridgewater House-Chesterfield House- Stafford APSLEY HOUSE, Hyde Park Corner, the residence of the Duke of Wellington. Here lived the first Duke for many years previous to his death in 1852. It was built by Lord Chancellor Bathurst. When the late Duke purchased it in 1820, it was a plain edifice of brick; he caused it to be faced with Bath stone, and built the portico, the west wing, and a picture gallery 90 feet long, laying out, it is said, £130,000. He afterwards purchased the Crown's reversion in the property for £9530. The Duke celebrated the victory of Waterloo by a grand banquet every 18th of June in the picture gallery. The house contains a good collection of pictures, and many valuable objects presented to the Duke by foreign sovereigns and public bodies, e.g., a dessert service, painted with the Duke's victories, given by the King of Saxony; services of china, presented by the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and Louis XVIII.; and a silver plateau, to hold 106 wax tapers, given by the King of Portugal. The Duke's bedroom, with its simple furniture, is preserved in the state in which he left it. Amongst the pictures is the famous "Christ on the Mount of Olives," by Coreggio, of which there is a duplicate in the National Gallery. This picture was found in Joseph Buonaparte's carriage when captured in Spain. It was restored by the Duke to the King of Spain, and by him presented to the captor. The interior of the house can only be seen by special permission. ARGYLE HOUSE, Argyle Street, a plain mansion at the middle of the east side of the street, is the residence of the Earl of Aberdeen. It formerly belonged to the Dukes of Argyle, but was sold to the present earl's father, the premier of the Aberdeen ministry, which was planned here in 1852. We call attention to the house, however, for the purpose of mentioning that the dining-room wing which overlooks the garden at the rear has been lately converted by the direction of the earl into an industrial school for about sixty boys. There is a class-room, a messroom, work-rooms in which various useful trades are taught, and a lecture-room, where lectures will be delivered to the poor of the neighbourhood. The coach-house in Marlborough mews has been fitted with baths and lavatories. Sleeping accommodation will be afforded to some of the boys, whilst the others will leave in the evening and return in the morning. The boys are also to be fed and clothed. The most destitute children of the neighbourhood will be selected. This is making a noble use of money, and we trust so good an example will be followed by other wealthy people. BRIDGEWATER HOUSE, Cleveland Row, St. James', the residence of the Earl of Ellesmere, was erected by the late Earl (once well known as Lord Francis Egerton) from the designs of Sir Charles Barry, the style being Italian palazzo. It has a front 122 feet long towards the Green Park, and on this side it is seen between the Duke of Sutherland's and Earl Spencer's mansions. The picture gallery, 110 feet long, contains the Bridgewater collection, which was a portion of the celebrated Stafford gallery. The last Duke of Bridgewater, who died in 1803, bequeathed his pictures, valued at £150,000 to his nephew, the first Duke of Sutherland, during whose life the collection, added to one formed by himself, was known all over Europe as the Stafford gallery. On the death of the duke in 1833, his second son Lord Francis succeeded to the Bridgewater estates and pictures, the other part of the Stafford gallery going to the eldest son, father of the present Duke of Sutherland. Here are about 320 pictures, and this is the most accessible of the private collections in London. "Whether we love pictures as representations of beauty, or as emanations of mind, in every province of ideal or imitative painting, there is here sufficient to form the uncultivated or enchant the cultivated taste. Yet not merely because of the value, variety, and interest of its contents, does this collection take the first rank, but its history is so connected with the history of the progress of art in England as to render it peculiarly interesting. Of all the private collections, it will be found to be one which has had the most favourable, the most refining influence on the public and individual taste."-Mrs. Jameson. Here are 4 Raphaels, 2 Guidos, 6 Ludovico Carraccis, 7 Annibale Carraccis, 5 Domenichinos, 4 Claudes, 4 Gaspar Poussins, 5 Titians, 5 Berghems, 6 Cuyps, 3 G. Douws, 3 Hobbemas, 6 Adrian Ostades, 5 Rembrandts, 6 Ruysdaels, 8 Teniers, 7 Vanderveldes, etc., besides several pictures of the modern English school, and a master-piece of Paul de la Roche. For cards to view apply to Messrs. Smith, 137 New Bond Street, and Messrs. Colnaghi, 15 Pall Mall, East. There is a separate entrance for the public, who are admitted on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 10 to 5. CHESTERFIELD HOUSE, South Audley Street, opposite Great Stanhope Street, was built (1749) for the fourth Earl of Chesterfield, the author of the well-known letters, and the ancestor of the present owner. His favourite rooms remain as they were, when he boasted of them. The gardens are particularly fine. The pillars of the court-yard screen, and the marble staircase, each step a monolith 20 feet long, came from Cannons, the seat of the Duke of Chandos. DEVONSHIRE HOUSE, Piccadilly, the residence of the Duke of Devonshire, was built on the site of Berkeley House by William Kent for the third duke. It is a plain brick structure, and cost £30,000. The modern portico ill agrees with the main building. The late duke (the seventh) built a state staircase of marble, and refitted the whole interior, except a small room decorated by the duchess, his mother, a lady renowned for her beauty and political zeal. The grounds are large. In addition to a few interesting pictures, this mansion contains the Devonshire gems, a celebrated collection of cut stones and medals, Claude's Liber Veritatis, outlines drawn by his own hand of the pictures he had painted, and the Kemble plays, a series of English dramas, with examples of the first editions of Shakspere's plays. These were brought together by John Philip Kemble, and were sold at his death for £2000. GROSVENOR HOUSE, Upper Grosvenor Street, the residence of the Marquis of Westminster, is recognizable by the colonnade with double archway before the street front, and by the colonnade with six statues in the front facing Hyde Park. The first Earl Grosvenor began in 1750 the celebrated collection of pictures which is to be found here. The next earl made splendid additions, and of the gallery as it now appears Mrs. Jameson has said that no private gallery in this country exceeds it in point of variety. "The fascination of the Claudes, the imposing splendour of the Rubenses, and the interest attached to a number of English pictures, long contributed to render this gallery quite as popular as the Bridgewater gallery as a resort for the mere amateur, and not less attractive and improving to the student and enthusiast." Unfortunately it has been less accessible of late years to the public. Here are three Murillos, two Titians, five Guidos, ten Claudes, 11 Rubenses (four of them brought from the convent of Loeches, near Madrid, cost £10,000), seven Rembrandts, one Paul Potter, 66 a very miracle in its way;" then, of the English school, two Hogarths, Sir Joshua's Mrs. Siddons as the tragic muse, Gainsborough's Blue Boy, and West's chef d'œuvre, the Death of General Wolfe. HOLLAND HOUSE, Kensington, a fine old mansion of the time of James I., around which cluster pleasant associations, with several generations of arts, politicians, and literary men. It was built for Sir Walter Cope in 1607, and passed on his death to his son-in-law Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, the son and father of Earls of Warwick. The Earl was beheaded by the Parliament in 1649, and the house was then occupied by Fairfax as his headquarters, but was afterwards restored to the Riches. William and Mary resided here a short time before going to Kensington Palace. Addison marrying the widow of the son of the decapitated earl, lived and died here; it was, consequently, the scene of the interview between the young earl and Addison on his death-bed, unless that story be apocryphal. The Rich family having become extinct in the male line, Henry Fox was created Baron Holland, and purchased the mansion from Lord Kensington, to whom it had descended through female heirs. Here lived in his youth and early manhood Charles James Fox, the baron's second son. In the time of Henry Richard, third baron, C. J. Fox's nephew, the house was famous for the hospitality shewn there to literary men. Here met Rogers, Moore, Mackintosh, Hallam, Macaulay, Sydney Smith, and George Selwyn. They have all passed away with their host, and that host's son. "Where be your gibes now? your gambols, your songs, your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table in a roar?" The property has gone into |