soft turf of the garden, whither the coolness tempted a good many people. A diffused harmony pervaded the air and doubtless the hearts of the people.

One expects every site in London to have historic associations, and those connected with Dorchester House have a certain piquancy in view of the Fourth of July and the present occupant of the place. The second Marquis of Hertford, the father of the builder of the original house, was in his time a frequent speaker in the House of Commons, always speaking, we are told, "if not with eloquence,

of the grand old school who, when he was in the Tenth Hussars, and dined at the Prince's table, would fall under it night after night." And again, "A noble Lord whom we shall call the Marquis of Steyne is said to have mulcted him [George the Fourth, when Prince Regent] of immense sums." The great Marquis married an equally great heiress, Maria Fagnani, whose beauty and whose parentage were famed for opposite reasons. Indeed, the paternity of the girl is still doubtful. All that is known is that it was claimed by George Selwyn, the wit

Dorchester House, after the manner of old big cities, rubs shoulders with a narrow winding street in which lived Mrs. Fitz Herbert, who was undoubtedly the lawful wife of George IV., and who died in 1837. Here also lived the man who wrote Dr. Johnson's epitaph, and who was famous for never having said a harsh word of any one-except in this epitaph:

"Here lies Sam Johnson, Reader have a care;

Tread lightly, lest you wake a sleeping bear,

influence which helps to make on the finer etheric substance of our minds what we call "the impression a place. gives," or its atmosphere? This street plays the part of one of Charles Lamb's "" poor relations." Hyde Park, Park Lane, Dorchester House, look very prosperous beside it, but some of us are peculiar enough to like them all the better on account of it.

Dorchester House is noted as one of the largest and handsomest private residences in London, But any one who

knows the sorry state of architecture not only in England but throughout Europe during 1800-50, the period in which it was built, will be apprehensive as to its beauty. And yet at that time conditions were more favorable in England than elsewhere. A wave of Gothic influence, largely due to Sir Walter Scott among others, had made itself felt in England though not in other countries, and to this is due the fact that probably in no other country could there have been erected at that time so creditable a pile as the British Houses of Parliament. This wave, however, had been spent, and the inevitable reaction had set in, this time towards the classic. Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, favored this style, and to its influence we owe the imitations of Italian palaces which rise up in English glades and valleys. For, as Ruskin has pointed out, the English have no national style of architecture, as there was in Greece and Egypt. And he ascribes this to the great diversity of configuration, building material, and climatic conditions in England. Greek architecture was produced by a people whose national life was confined within an area of fifty miles, in which, as well as in its colonies and dependencies, similarity of conditions obtained; and the same may be said of Egypt, though

"In Rome

applying to a larger area. architecture became less perfect, because more imitative than indigenous, and corrupted by the traveling and conquering and stealing ambition of the Roman; yet still a school of architecture because the whole of Italy presented the same peculiarities of scene."

We are therefore prepared for still worse when the English build in the grand manner. But Dorchester House from the exterior can give us only feelings of relief. It has been said that the simplicity of Italian architecture is not that of utility, but that of pride. And although we may criticise the mixture of pure Doric, Corinthian, and Italian to be found in it, nevertheless the result is undeniably one of great dignity and simplicity and strength. The size of the principal cornice, which displays a large amount of carving, may be judged from the fact that the stones composing the chief projection are each eight feet square. Its depth causes a fine play of light and shadow over the building. From the point of view of workmanship the house would be difficult to surpass. The walls are three feet ten inches thick, with a cavity of five inches. The stones are all " doweled" together with slate dowels. That is, the adjacent stones are fastened together by slate dowels which fit into a