Passing through the entrance gateway, shown in one of our illustrations, the visitor to Hardwick will see before him, across the quadrangular space laid out in magnificent flower-beds in the pure Elizabethan style—the most striking feature of which are two immense beds, one on either side the central pathway, formed in the shape of the letters E and S, the initials of Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury—in all its grandeur, the principal front of the Hall, which bears out to the full the truth of the common saying—
“Hardwick Hall,
More glass than wall.”
The house is in reality “all windows,” and has a peculiarity of appearance possessed by no other existing mansion. Passing under the colonnade, seen in the centre of the building in our illustration on page 122, the visitor arrives at the entrance door, and will, before entering, do well to glance at an inscription, now nearly defaced, on one of the pillars:—
“Hic locus est quem si verbis audacia detur
Haud meum magni dixisse palatia coeli,”
which may be thus freely rendered:—
“Could any adventurous muse these portals sing,
No more to Heaven’s gate her flight she’d wing.”
The Great Hall, which is first entered, is of considerable magnitude, and very lofty, taking in the whole height of two stories of the noble building. Its lower part is wainscoted; its upper, hung with fine Gobelins tapestry. Along one side stands an enormous and massive oak table, and carved chairs and seats in abundance are ranged around the room. Over the entrance end a spacious gallery, supported on pillars, leads from the dining-room to the drawing-room, on the first floor; and at the opposite end is a charming piece of sculpture, a full-length statue of Mary, Queen of Scots, by Westmacott, with the inscription—
“Maria Scotorum Regina
Nata 1542
A suis in exilium acta 1568
Ab hospita neci data 1587.”