SION HOUSE.

THIS magnificent house is one of the seats of the Duke of Northumberland, and is situated on the banks of the Thames, between Isleworth and Brentford, in the parish of the former village. It received its name from a monastery founded by Henry the Fifth, in 1414, for sixty nuns, under the government of an abbess; and for thirteen priests, four deacons, and eight lay brethren, under the government of a confessor; each sex to live in separate cloisters, and follow the rule of St. Augustin. This was one of the first monasteries suppressed by Henry the Eighth, on account of the members of that society having been favourable to the king's enemies, (we suppose spiritual ones,) and particularly the Maid of Kent, who had so far induced Sir Thomas More to attend to her vagaries, that he submitted to two private conferences with her at this place.-On its being suppressed, the revenues of the house amounted to 1944). 11s. 11d., a proof of its great splendour; and, on account of its fine situation, it was appropriated to the king's particular use.

In the next reign this monastery was given by the king to his uncle, the Protector Somerset; who, about the year 1547, began to erect the present structure, but only lived to finish the shell of it. The house is built on the spot where the church belonging to the monastery formerly stood, and is a large venerable edifice. It is built round a spacious quadrangular court, and possesses four equal fronts.-The roof is flat, covered with lead, and surrounded with battlements. At each corner is a flat square turret, in the same style as the rest of the building. The East front, which faces the Thames, is supported by an handsome cloistral arcade.— The gardens formed two square arcas, inclosed with high walls, and in the best fashion of that day, when as much

anxiety was displayed to preclude prospects, as is now em ployed to disclose them.

After the attainder and execution of the Duke of Somerset, on the twenty-second of January 1552, Sion House was confiscated to the crown, and was soon after given to the Duke of Northumberland, when it became the residence of his son Lord Guilford, and his daughter the incomparable but unfortunate Lady Jane Grey.-The Duke having fallen a victim to his ambition, and suffered on the scaffold on the twenty-second of August 1553, Sion House once more reverted to the crown, when Queen Mary restored it to the nuns, who retained it in their possession, till they were expelled by Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her reign.

Some years after the second dissolution of this monastery, it was granted, by a long lease, to Henry, Earl of Northumberland; who, on account of his eminent services to the government, was permitted to enjoy it, on paying a small annual rent, which, when offered, was generally remitted.— King James the First afterwards granted it to him and his heirs for ever, when he greatly embellished and improved it. His son Algernon succeeded to the estate in 1631; and employed Inigo Jones to make alterations for its more splendid appearance.

To Sion House the Dukes of York and Gloucester, with the Princess Elizabeth, were sent by an order of Parliament, in 1646; where, according to Lord Clarendon, they were treated by the Earl and Countess of Northumberland in a manner suitable to their birth.-The king frequently visited them there, in 1647, and represented it as a great alleviation of his misfortunes to find his children treated with so much respect and kindness. The Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth continued at Sion till the year 1649, when the Earl of Northumberland resigned them to the care of his sister, the Countess of Leicester.

On the thirtieth of May 1682, Charles Duke of Somerset married the Lady Elizabeth Percy, the only daughter and heiress of Jocelyn Earl of Northumberland; in consequence

of which marriage Sion House, in common with the great estates of the Percies, became his property.-The Duke and Duchess lent this house to the Princess of Denmark, who resided there during the misunderstanding which arose between her Royal Highness and Queen Mary.—On the death of Charles Duke of Somerset, December 4, 1748, Algernon Earl of Hertford, his only surviving son, succeeded to the title and estate, and soon after gave Sion to his daughter Elizabeth, who afterwards married Sir Hugh Smithson, Bart. He, after assuming the name of Percy, was first created Earl and afterwards Duke of Northumberland.-The present duke is the issue of that marriage.

This noble mansion was altered and fitted up by the late duke, under the direction of the Messrs. Adams. The great hall, which is paved with black and white marble, is sixty feet in length, thirty-one in breadth, and thirty-four in height. It contains several antique statues, and a fine bronze cast of the dying gladiator.

Adjoining to the hall is a most magnificent vestibule, decorated in a very uncommon style; the floor being of Scagliola marble, and the walls in fine relief, with gilt trophies, &c. It is furnished with twelve large columns and sixteen pilasters of the Ionic order, and of verd antique, purchased at an immense expence; being a greater quantity of that valuable species of marble, than is to be found in any other building in Europe. On the columns are twelve gilt statues.

In the drawing-room are two tables, formed of two noble pieces of antique Mosaic, found in the Baths of Titus, and purchased from Abbate Furietti's collection at Rome.

The great gallery, which also serves for the library and museum, is one hundred and thirty-three feet and an half by fourteen. The book-cases are formed in recesses in the wall, and receive the books so as to make them appear part of the general finishing of the room. Below the ceiling, which is richly adorned with paintings and ornaments, runs a series of large medallion paintings, called the pedigree pictures, exhibiting the portraits of all the earls of Northum

berland, and other principal persons of the houses of Percy and Seymour. At the end of this room is a pair of foldingdoors that open into the garden, which uniformity required should represent a book-case, to answer the other end of the library. Here, by an happy thought, are exhibited the titles of the lost Greek and Roman authors, so as to form a pleasing deception, and to give, at the same time, a curious catalogue of the Authores deperditi.

The ground round the house, which was planted and arranged under the direction of Brown, forms an agreeable park on one side, towards the Hounslow road; from whence there is an elegant and rather enriched entrance, with a central arch, connected by a range of columns with lodges on either side. But though there is somewhat of a fanciful prettiness about it, the style of the architecture is by no means suited to that of the ancient mansion to which it belongs it is after a design of Adams.-On the other side, the ground, which stretches from Brentford to Isleworth, falls down to the Thames in a fine gradual descent, with a very rich range of plantation on the brow.-Here is a delightful view of a long reach of the River, the Palace of Kew, and a fine stretch of scenery in the Royal Gardens of Richmond, which form the opposite bank.

The kitchen gardens, which are very extensive, are at a proper distance, and planted out from the house. The greenhouse is very elegantly constructed; the back and end walls of which are the only remains of the ancient monastery.— In the flower-garden is a stately Doric column, crowned with the statue of Flora.

From the roof of the house, which is flat, the prospect is of considerable extent, comprehending a portion of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, &c.; together with a command of the river, in a variety of beautiful and interesting points of view.