Vandyck In England.

by Vandyck I have already catalogued , —a rocky landscape in the background . At Dunham-Massey is a good portrait to the waist , in black , holding * a rose , of Lady Diana Cecil , Countess of Oxford and Elgin . In the dining-room at ChatsAvortli is a

fulllength of Elizabeth Cecil , Countess of Devonshire , daughter of William Cecil , Earl of Salisbury , and Avife of William Cavendish , third Earl of Devonshire : and at Petworth , a three-quarter , in white , standing , of the same countess , holding a red rose , Avith pearl necklace and ringlets . This lady was

the mother of the first Duke of Devonshire , — King William's duke , Lord Macaulay's duke . At Petworth is a three-quarter portrait of Dorothy Percy , Countess of Leicester , in Avhite , with blue cloak , grey scarf , pearl necklace , and ringlets . This celebrated ladywith true Percy

, and Devereux blood in her \* "eins , was the mother of Algernon Sydney , the patriot , —of Waller's " Sacharissa , " Dorothy , Countess of Sunderland , and of Henry , Earl of Romney , the "handsome

Sydney of De Grammont ' s Memoirs . This suggestive portrait is engraved in Lodge . The same rich collection contains a companion portrait of her younger sister Lucy Percy , Countess of Carlisle , in crimson and orange , standing , and dipping * her right hand in a fountain ; pearl

necklace and ringlets . A repetition , equally good , is at Windsor . What Granger calls " the original , " —the Wharton picture , —passed into the hands of James West , Esq ., of the Treasury , a great and not forgotten dealer among * men Avho IcnoAT in what Avay and at Avhat prices property has changed

hands in England . A very fine three-quarter portrait of Anne Carr , Countess of Bedford , is another PetAvorth treasure . This lady—the daughter of the infamous Earl of Rochester and Countess of Essex , and , stranger stillmother of William Loz'd Russellthe patriot

, , , —is in blue silk ( standing ) , glove in right hand , grey scarf over left shoulder , pearl necklace and ringlets . Repetitions may be seen at Woburn ( in Avhite ) , and at Althorp . Copies exist at Hagley and at Dunham-Massej ^ .

Still another PetAvorth prize , a three-quarter in black , standing * , of Dorothy Sidney , Countess of Sunderland . ( Waller ' s " " Sacharissa" ) , red scarf , left hand resting on a large vase , his right pointing to a rose-bush Avith red roses upon it , pearl necklace , and ringlets . A repetition at Althorp .

Montague Lord Halifax has a copy of verses on this picture . At Hall-Barn , near Beaconsfield , there AA as AA hen Granger wrote ( 1775 ) , * a portrait of the Countess , which Sacharissa herself , it is said , presented to Waller . At Althorp is a full-length of Penelope

Wriothesley , Baroness Spencer , in a blue silk dress and pearl necklace . The action of walking , and the gambols of a little dog , those easily

found conditions of all portraiture , give life to > the Avork of a doubtful Vandyck . At Windsor ( part of King James II . ' s collection ) is one of his finest and most ambitious works —a full-length , seated , of Lady Venetia Digby , treading on Envy and Malice , Avhile her arm .

remains unhurt by a serpent that tAvines around " it . This lovely woman , with the true Stanley and Percy blood in her veins , Avas the mistress of Richard , third Earl of Dorset ( died 1624 ) , and afterwards the wife of Sir Kenelm Digby . Beis Johnson calls her his " Muse , " and had her leave he tells us , "to call her so . "

" She had a mind as calm as she was fair , Not toss'd or troubled with the light lady-air , But kept an even gait , as some straight tree Moved by the wind , so comely moved she . And by the awful manage of her eye , She sway'd all business in the family .

To one she said , 'Do this '—he did it ; so To another 'Move , ' he went ; to a third , ' Go , He ran ; and all did strive with diligence T'obey , and serve her sweet commandemeuts . Ben Jonson

There was scandal about her to the last but of the particular nature of the gossip and Avhisper nothing * certain is knoAvn . Jonson sings her " fan * fame" in some of the last runnings of his pen , and his verses on her sudden death suggested ( I see reason to think ) this very picture to the fanciful

head of Sir Kenelm and the fertile pencil of Vandyck . Lord Clarendon , in his autobiography , alludes to the " extraordinary beauty , and as . extraordinary fame , " of Lady Venetia . By Sir Kenelm she had three sons , —Kenelm , John , and George .

Walpole mentions a fine little picture or model , exquisitely finished , of this noble work . * It passed from the hands of Mr . Walker and Mr . Skinner , and thence to Sir Eliab Harvey : but who has it now I IOIOAV not . f At BotliAvell Castle , in Scotland , is a full-length

portrait , in Avhite satin , standing , of Lady Paulet , part of the Clarendon Collection ; a rose in her right hand , the left holding her dress * " on the right a curtain of very poAvcrful red : on the left a ground of one colour . ""] : Waagen , whose Avords I have copied , calls it " a charming picture , carefull }* - executed in a clear silvery tone . "

In the Marquis of Breadalbane's apartments ,, at Holyrood , I saw in 1859 , a very fine full-length ( in white satin and blue scarf , holding a lute the landscape bold and glowing ) of Lady Isabella Rich , daughter of Henry Earl of Holland , married to Sir James Thynn , of Longleat . This is the lady made immortal in verse by the Muse of Waller . The neatly-turned poem " Of my Lady