siege of Colchester, during what was called the second war, when the famished garrison had eaten most of their horses, he was eminently useful in the distribution of provisions, to which he gave his unwearied attention for a long time. An order of the Commons was made November the 10th, 1648, that seven of the persons that had been in the late engagements against the Parliament, from January the 1st, 1647, should be banished, and that Lord Loughborough should be one ; but this vote was revoked on the 13th of December following, “as destructive to the peace and quiet, and derogatory to the justice of the kingdom." The command of Ashby de la Zouch was given by the Parliament, about this time, to Thomas Lord Grey, who was ordered to provide for the securing, and safe keeping, the Duke of Hamilton a prisoner there. Shortly after, a Committee of the Commons, appointed to consider of all the fortresses of the kingdom, came to a resolution that Ashby de la Zouch should be forthwith demolished, and that James Earl of Cambridge, then a prisoner in the castle, for high treason, should he removed to Windsor. Conformably to this decision, the Committee, then sitting at Leicester, deputed some members to view the place, and several persons were employed to undermine and demolish the fortifications. Thus, with the downfall of the monarchy and the royal cause, fell this ancient and venerable structure, which during that perilous and troubled period of English History, and while in possession of the noble, brave, and loyal owners, served as a place of refuge to several eminent and pious divines, as well as many other adherents of the unfortunate Charles. * * After this event, the Earl of Huntingdon, having fixed his abode at Donnington Park, was the less anxious to keep in repair the habitable part of his family mansion. Some considerable walls, however, still remain ; and the different parts of the old building, with the spacious cellars, and subterraneous drains and passages, may readily be distinguished. On the highest fragment, under a rich arch, are still the arms of Hastings, which are also In the dispersion, prosecution, and exile of the King's friends which now followed, Lord Loughborough was, as may be supposed, a conspicuous sufferer. He was for some time a prisoner, but afterwards effected his escape to the Continent, where he remained in obscurity and exile during the greater part of the interregnum. After the restoration we again find him on the public stage, and enjoying the well-earned confidence of his sovereign. On the 5th of January, 1660, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire; and, in 1664, his residence being then an old mansion in the visible in several of the ruins; but it is rather remarkable that there is no ivy on the walls, which are built of the fairest and clearest ashler stone, admirably fitted together and cemented. Behind the castle, to the north, are two cavities, parallelogram, like ponds; and at the north-east corner of the garden is a hexagon brick summer-house, with a circular stair-case and a stone door-way, joined by an outer terrace to another, which stretches over to a second terrace, and is of brick, four-sided, round and square. Among the topogra phical prints collected by Dr. Combe, is a north view in the old palace of Ashby de la Zouch, something in Place's manner. Buck engraved, in 1730, south and north views of this castle. Views of it were also published by Grose, Sparrow, and Godfrey, in 1759; and in 1786, two small, but accurate etchings, (one of them a view within the great court of the castle,) by Mr. Carter, one of the first architectural draughtsmen of the present age. Another south view was engraved, in 1791, by Mr. Walker. "I shall not," says the ingenious artist, Mr. Carter, "enter into the causes which have reduced this once splendid pile of buildings to their present state of ruin and curtailment, but confine myself to a few slight remarks on some of its principal remains. "This castle in its dimensions seems to have known no bounds, either in the lines of arrangement, or in the altitude of the several stories. We can in particular trace out the great hall, kitchen, various chambers of state, the chapel, &c. wherein are found, in good preservation, rich door-ways, chimney-pieces, arms, devices, and other ornamental accompaniments, all which serve to show that this castle must have once vied, if not surpassed, all its castellated competitors for architectural fame that this country has produced. And yet do not these sentiments take possession of our imaginations when engaged in the like survey of any other of our ancient lordly abodes? How is it possible then to confine the meed of praise, since all these towering glories have alike claim for wonder and commendation. How endless must have been the track of journeying round the land in former times, that brought to view such proud scenes of array and triumph, and of hospitable reception. Enthusiasm must then have been one general impulse, inspiring each ardent soul to run the road of glory in law, in arts, in honour, and in arms." "to parish of Lambeth, still called Loughborough House, he obtained an Act of Parliament," to make the river and sewer navigable from or near Brixton Causeway, in the County of Surrey, into the river Thames." But the life and services of this brave and indefatigable nobleman were now approaching to a close, impaired as his health had been by the fatigues and dangers of military life and the vicissitudes of fortune. In 1665 he made his will, by which, after providing for the payment of all his debts, and some legacies, he bequeathed the residue of his property to his brother Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon; and, in the month of January the following year, died at London, unmarried. His remains were buried in the Collegiate Chapel of St. George, within the Castle of Windsor, in the aisle on the north side of the choir, not far from the grave of his illustrious ancestor, William Lord Hastings. CHAPTER IX. OF FERDINANDO, SIXTH EARL OF HUNTINGDON, ELDEST SON OF HENRY, THE FIFTH EARL. FERDINANDO, sixth Earl of Huntingdon, heir and successor of Henry the fifth Earl, was born at Ashby, January 11th, 1608. In March, 1627, he was returned to serve in Parliament for the county of Leicester, and two years after was joined with his father in the Lieutenancy of the counties of Leicester and Rutland. By indenture, dated May, 1638, he and his brother Henry, in consideration of the sum of 4,500l. granted, to John Earl of Bridgewater and Thomas Davies, a moiety of the rectory of Mould, otherwise Mouldesdale, in Flintshire. On the 13th of November, 1641, his father being then still living, he had summons to Parliament amongst the barons of the realm; and in 1643 he succeeded to the family honours. He married Lucy, daughter and sole heir to Sir John Davys, of Englefield, Berks, Knt. (Premier Serjeant at Law to James the First, and Charles the First, as also Solicitor, and afterwards Attorney General in Ireland, and finally Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench,) by his wife, Lady Eleanor, youngest daughter of George Lord Audley, Earl of Castlehaven, and, settling at Donnington Park, had by her four sons; Henry, John, Ferdinando, and Theophilus, born after the decease of his three brothers; and likewise six daughters, Alice, Eleanor, both of whom died young; Elizabeth, married to Sir James Laughan, of Cottesbroke, in Notting hamshire, Bart. being his second wife, and dying without issue ; Lucy, who died unmarried; Mary, espoused to Sir William Joliffe, of Caverswell Castle in Staffordshire, Knt.; and lastly Christiana. Of the sons, John, the second, died an infant in December, 1639. Ferdinando, the third son, died May 8, 1647, in his tenth year, and was buried at Ashby, where his father erected a suitable monument to his memory. The following epitaph is inscribed on a table of black marble, with a compartment of alabaster gilt, in the upper part a buffalo's head, with a ducal coronet about the neck; in the lower, Argent, a maunch sable. "In Memoriam vere nobilis Tertii Honorandissimi Of God he stands in fear, Is of his name The anagram: The loss of two sons, it may be conceived, was sufficiently distressing to a parent's feelings, but a still severer trial was reserved for them. Little more than two years after, on the 24th of June, 1649, Lord Henry, the eldest son, just in the flower of youth, and the love and admiration of all who knew him, was also cut off. He died of the small-pox, in his twentieth year, under the additional grief to his parents of his being then an only son, and, for a climax of affliction, on the very eve of his nuptials. The premature death of this amiable young nobleman, who, to the sweetest disposition, and |