is a fine example of the baronial residences erected just
after the period of fortified castles, when artillery had rendered these
fortress-mansions useless as a means of defense. It surrounds three
square courts and covers about five acres; it contains three hundred and
sixty-five rooms and has seven great staircases, some of them very
elaborate. The collection of paintings and mediaeval furniture is one of
the best in England. The pictures are of untold value, one room being
filled with originals by Gainsborough and Reynolds alone. Some idea of
the value of these pictures may be gained from the fact that an offer of
twenty thousand pounds for one of the Gainsboroughs was refused; and
there are other pictures quite as valuable, not only by English masters,
but by great continental artists as well.

King James I visited Knole House and preparations were made to receive
him as befitted his rank. The immense stateroom was especially furnished
for the occasion at a cost, it is said, of about one hundred thousand
pounds. This room has never been used since and it stands today just as
it did when it served its royal occupant, though the gorgeous hangings
and tapestries are somewhat dingy and worn from the dust and decay of
three hundred years.

It took nearly two hours to go through the parts of the house that are
shown, although the parties were accompanied by guides who kept them
moving along. On the afternoon of our arrival there were quite a number
of visitors, five motor cars and several carriages bringing them. Knole
House stands in a large park, which has the finest beeches in England,
and it is really more of a show-place than a family residence. The
Sackville-Wests are among the richest of the nobility and have other
homes which are probably more comfortable than this impressive but
unhomelike palace.

[Illustration: PENSHURST PLACE, HOME OF THE SIDNEYS.]

Something similar to Knole House is Penshurst Place, about ten miles
away, but with an atmosphere and traditions quite different from the
Sackville-West mansion. This great palace, just adjacent to the village
of Penshurst, was built in the Thirteenth Century, passing shortly after
into the hands of the Sidney family, with whom it has remained ever
since. Of the Sidneys, one only is known wherever the English language
is spoken--the gallant young knight, Sir Philip, who, when still below
the age of thirty, lost his life while fighting for a forlorn cause in
t