“‘They that be wise shall shine as the firmament.’
“‘Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and is rich in prudence.’
“‘The heart of the wise shall instruct his mouth and add grace to his lips.’
“‘Take hold on instruction; leave it not; keep it because it is thy life.’
“‘Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it.’
“From this fine apartment the North Library is entered by two open archways. This room is similar in its appointments to the West Library, and with it forms one magnificent whole. At the north-west corner of this room (in the tower) is a charming apartment, connected with the library by an open archway, called—
“The Poet’s Bay or ‘Poet’s Corner,’ which is one of the most charming of all imaginable retreats. The bay window overlooks the park and the distant country for miles away, while the side windows overlook parts of the grounds and buildings. The ceiling is of the most elaborate character, covered with minute tracery and exquisite pendents picked out in gold and colours. At the west end of the library is a stained-glass window with full-length figures of ‘Gilbert Talbot’ and the ‘Lady Joan,’ with their arms under Gothic canopies. From this room a door on the south side opens into the ‘Oak Corridor,’ while two open arches at the east end connect it with—
“The Music-Room, the ceiling of which is an elegant example of flamboyant tracery, the ground being blue, and the raised tracery white and gold. The chimney-piece of white marble is elaborately sculptured, and from it rises a majestic pier-glass. On either side are portraits of Earl John and his Countess, life-size, surmounted by their coronets. The furniture which remains is of remarkably fine character, carved and gilt, and the walls are here and there filled in with mirrors, which add much to the effect. On the south side is a large and deeply-recessed bay window, like the rest, of Gothic design, with stained glass in its upper portion, representing King David playing on the harp, St. Cecilia, and angels with various musical instruments. In front of this window is a beautiful parterre of flowers, the Conservatory being to the left, and the state-rooms to the right. From the ‘Music-Room,’ glass doors, in a Gothic screen, open into a small library, with Gothic presses and stained-glass window with Talbot arms, &c. From this room another similar door opens into—
“The Drawing-Room, a remarkably fine and strikingly grand Gothic apartment, with a ceiling of flamboyant tracery of very similar design to the one already named. To the right, on entering, a central door of Gothic screen-work and glass opens into the Conservatory, which, as I have before said, connects this room and those on the north side with the Octagon and those on the south side. The Conservatory is entirely of glass, both roof and sides, and has a central transept. It is filled with the choicest plants, and in every part, except the vestibule, the sweetly pretty and appropriate text, ‘Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like unto one of these,’ is painted around the cornice. In the vestibule, as I have said, the motto is, ‘The speech of flowers exceeds all flowers of speech.’ Over the Conservatory door, in stained glass, are the arms of Talbot, Verdun, &c.; the crowned rose and thistle; and other devices. Opposite to the Conservatory, on the north side, is the ‘Saloon.’ The furniture of the ‘Drawing-room,’ the chairs, couches, and seats, are all of the most costly character, some of them draped with the arms, supporters, &c., of the earl in gold and crimson damask. On a table in this room are arranged the various addresses, in cabinets, &c., presented to the late Earl of Shrewsbury on his accession to the earldom and estates after the trial in 1860, and a magnificent ancient casket, the outer glass case of which bears the inscription—‘La casset Talbot presente par Jean, premier Comte de Shreusburie, sur son mariage a Marguerite Beauclerc.’ On the walls, besides other paintings, is a fine full-length seated figure of Queen Adelaide. The ends of the room are Gothic screen-work, with doors and mirrors. One of these, at the east end, leads into another small library, and so on by a small gallery, denuded of its objects of interest, to the Chapel Corridor (elaborately groined and panelled in oak), from which the private apartments are gained, and which also leads direct to—
“The Chapel, which, although ruthlessly shorn of its relics, its paintings, its altar, its shrines, and all its more interesting objects, is still one of the most gorgeous and beautiful of rooms. It is enough to say that it is one of Pugin’s masterpieces, and that the stained glass is perhaps the finest that even Willement, by whom it was executed, ever produced. It is impossible to conceive anything finer than was the effect of this chapel when it was in perfect order.