ton by the appearance of Amelia,
Countess of Derwentwater, with a retinue of servants, at the
old baronial castle of her ancestors--Dilston Old
Castle--and at once taking possession of the old ruin. Her
ladyship, who is a fine-looking elderly lady, was dressed in
an Austrian military uniform, and wore a sword by her side
in the most approved fashion. She was accompanied, as we
have said, by several retainers, who were not long in
unloading the waggon-load of furniture which they had
brought with them, and quickly deposited the various goods
and chattels in the old castle, the rooms of which, as most
of our readers are aware, are without roofs; but a plentiful
supply of stout tarpaulings, which are provided for the
purpose, will soon make the apartments habitable, if not
quite so comfortable as those which the countess has just
left. In the course of the morning her ladyship was visited
by Mr. C.J. Grey, the receiver to the Greenwich Hospital
estates, who informed her she was trespassing upon the
property of the commissioners, and that he would be obliged
to report the circumstance to their lordships. Her ladyship
received Mr. Grey with great courtesy, and informed that
gentleman she was acting under the advice of her legal
advisers, and that she was quite prepared to defend the
legality of her proceedings. The sides of the principal
room have already been hung with the Derwentwater family
pictures, to some of which the countess bears a marked
resemblance, and the old baronial flag of the unfortunate
family already floats proudly from the summit of the fine,
though old and dilapidated tower."

This is a bald newspaper account; but the lady herself is an
experienced correspondent, and in one of her letters, which she has
published in a gorgeously emblazoned volume, thus gives her version of
the affair in her own vigorous way:--

"DEVILSTONE CASTLE, 29_th September_, 1868.

"Here I am, my dear friend, at my own house, my roofless
home; and my first scrawl from here is to the vicarage. You
will be sorry to hear that the Lords of Her Majesty's
Council have defied all equitable terms in my eleven years'
suffering case. My counsel and myself have only received
impertinent replies from under officials. Had my lords met
my case like