hester, the latter from
the castle of some German baron, and full of feudal character.

As for the other relics in the dining-room, I will only particularise two
or three more; and they are a pair of round and solid well-carved
pendents from the chancel of the church of Stratford-on-Avon, which have
been removed from their original station immediately over the tomb of
Shakspeare; and are now, as you see, inverted and used here as
footstools.

"Think of that, Master Brooke!"

The other relic is that matchless piece of sculptured oak [Picture:
Effigy in oak of Emperor Rudolph II.] which represents the Emperor
Rudolph II., the size of life (five feet six inches in height), and which
was brought from Aix-la-Chapelle by the late Sir Herbert Taylor. What
may have been its former history I cannot tell you, but it resembles in
execution the exquisite Gothic figures in the chimney-piece of the
town-hall at Bruges, and is of about the same height and size.

Are you willing to forsake the thoughtful soberness of antique
oak-panelling for the tinsel of Venetian gold and the richness of Genoa
velvet, Florentine tapestry, and Persian arras? If so, we will ascend to
the drawing-rooms and gallery. But stay a moment and permit this lady
and oddly-dressed gentleman to pass us on their exit from the gallery,
where they have been rehearsing some charming entertainment for the
evening, or getting up some piece of fanciful mummery to amuse the idle
guests who have congregated around the garden fountain. [Picture: Couple
exiting from gallery] The light is not favourable for seeing all the
pictures that deserve inspection on the staircase--you had better ascend;
and now, having reached the head of the semi-staircase, our course is
along this lobby to the opposite door-way, which is that of the
drawing-room.

Let us enter at once, and in our tour of the Pryor's Bank regard the
ante-drawing-room as a kind of middle or passage-room, belonging either
to the gallery or the drawing-room. I admit that the arrangement of the
house, which, however, is very simple, appears puzzling at first: the
reason of this is, that the senses are often deceived, from mirrors here
and there being so judiciously arranged, that they reflect at happy
angles objects which would otherwise escape observation. It is
impossible to convey an idea of the whole effect of the Pryor's Bank,
made up as it has been of carvings of unrivalled richness, grace, and
vari