country, but the State Papers have recently
been lodged in a room of greater security. A few of the treasures of
these two rooms may be mentioned: (1) more than 12,000 autograph letters
of the early Cecils; (2) the Diary of the "great Lord Burleigh"; (3) the
forty-two articles of Edward VI. with his autograph attached; (4) a
vellum MS. with miniature of Henry VII.; (5) the Norfolk correspondence;
(6) the Council Book of Mary Tudor; (7) early MS. of the Chronicle of
William of Malmesbury; (8) autograph MS. by Ascham.

[Illustration: KING JAMES'S DRAWING-ROOM, HATFIELD HOUSE]

_King James's Room_ has three fine oriel windows and is profusely
decorated. The great chimney-piece of marble mosaic, 12 feet wide, is
supported on black Doric columns, and surmounted by a statue in bronze
of James. Note the costly candelabra and gilt-framed furniture.

_The Grand Staircase_ is hung with portraits of many Cecils, by Lely,
Vandyck, Kneller, Reynolds and other masters. Note the huge dimensions
of the carved balustrade; the strange rustic figures portrayed thereon;
and the lions grasping shields bearing heraldic devices. There are five
landings.

Among other apartments the following should be visited: (1) _The
Chapel_, with its fine Flemish windows representing scriptural stories,
marble altar-piece, and open stalls; (2) the _Winter Dining Room_,
looking out upon the N. terrace, about 30 feet square; this room
contains many valuable pictures, including Wilkie's Duke of Wellington,
Van Somer's James I. and Charles I., and Kneller's Peter the Great; (3)
_Great Banqueting Hall_; (4) _Summer Dining Room_, near the foot of the
great staircase; the bust of Burleigh, in white marble, is above the
door; (5) the _Armoury_, full of treasures "rich and rare," suits of
armour, relics of the Spanish Armada, various arms, etc. Other pictures
in various parts of the house include (1) William III., and Lady
Ranelagh, by Kneller; (2) half-length of Elizabeth with jewelled
head-dress and grotesquely embroidered gown; Mildred Coke, mother of
the first earl; Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter: all by Zucchero; (3) fine
whole-length of Mary, first Marchioness of Salisbury, by Reynolds.

The Park is the largest in the county, being about 9 miles in
circumference; it is undulating and beautifully wooded. There are some
superb avenues. Of Queen Elizabeth's oak, N.E. from the N. terrace,
little is left saving a portion of trunk, railed round; but the Lion
Oak