tury much in its original
condition, but in 1747 changes began which have since been continued,
and have resulted in the construction of the ducal palace now adorning
the spot. The mansion is a quadrangle enclosing a spacious court, the
chief front being towards the west and extending two hundred and thirty
feet. It is an Ionic building with a rustic basement, and within are
spacious state-apartments and ample accommodations for the family. The
rooms are filled with the best collection of portraits of great
historical characters in the kingdom, and most of them are by famous
artists. They include all the Earls and Dukes of Bedford, with their
wives and famous relatives, and also the Leicesters, Essexes, and
Sydneys of Queen Elizabeth's reign, with many others. The unfortunate
Lord William Russell and his wife Rachel are here, and over his portrait
is the walking-stick which supported him to the scaffold, while hanging
on the wall is a copy of his last address, printed within an hour after
his execution. Of another of these old portraits Horace Walpole writes:
"A pale Roman nose, a head of hair loaded with crowns and powdered with
diamonds, a vast ruff and still vaster fardingale, and a bushel of
pearls, are the features by which everybody knows at once the pictures
of Queen Elizabeth." There is a fine library, and passing out of it into
the flower-garden is seen on the lawn the stump of the yew tree which
Mr. Gladstone felled in October, 1878, as a memorial of his visit, he
being as proud of his ability as a forester as he is of his eminence as
a statesman. From the house a covered way leads to the statue-gallery,
which contains an admirable collection, and the green-house, one hundred
and fifty feet long, filled with valuable foreign plants, the family
being great horticulturists. Busts of the great Whig statesmen are in
the gallery, and it also contains the celebrated Lanti vase, brought
from Rome. The "Woburn Abbey Marbles" have long been a Mecca for
sculpture-loving pilgrims from both sides of the ocean. There are
extensive stables, and to them are attached a fine tennis-court and
riding-house, both constantly used by the younger Russells. Beyond is a
Chinese dairy kept for show, and in a distant part of the grounds a
curious puzzle-garden and rustic grotto. Woburn Park is one of the
largest private enclosures in England, covering thirty-five hundred
acres, and enclosed by a brick wall twelve miles long and eight feet