THE FIRST DAY'S SALE.-China, Majolica or Raffaelle Ware, &c. THE EIGHTH DAY'S SALE.-China, Sèvres Porcelain, Furniture, &c. THE NINTH DAY'S SALE.-China, Sèvres Porcelain, Furniture, &c. THE TENTH DAY'S SALE.-Antique Marbles, Bronzes, &c. THE THIRTEENTH DAY'S SALE.-Services of Gilt Glass, Furniture, &c. . THE FOURTEENTH DAY'S SALE.-Articles of Virtu, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, &c. 308) 1408) 1548) THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY'S SALE.-Collection of Pictures THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY'S SALE.-Pictures (continued), Armour, &c. THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY'S SALE.-Pictures (continued) THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY'S SALE.-Pictures (concluded) THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY'S SALE.-Cellar of Wines (concluded) THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE THIRTIETH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE THIRTY-FIRST DAY'S SALE.-Services of Glass, Furniture, &c. THE THIRTY-SECOND DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, Armour, &c. THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY'S SALE.-Service of Cut Glass, Furniture, &c. - - SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL CATALOGUE. THE THIRTY-SEVENTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. THE THIRTY-EIGHTH DAY'S SALE.-Furniture, &c. PREFACE. IN presenting to the Public an Annotated Catalogue of the objects of art and vertu lately contained in the princely mansion of STOWE, it is not the intention of its Editor to discuss, minutely, the circumstances which have led to their dispersion. Such an inquiry, were the data on which it ought alone to be founded more accessible than they really are, would lead him into a digression foreign to the purpose of this notice, and might inflict an additional pang on the feelings of those to whom the penalty has already proved sufficiently severe. There are few spectacles more saddening to a generous mind than the decadence from its "palmy estate" of so noble and time-honoured a family as that of BUCKINGHAM and CHANDOS -the descendants not merely of one of the most ancient branches of the British aristocracy, but even of royalty itself. The loftier the station which such advantages command for their possessor, however, the more overwhelming is his prostration, when "the day of tribulation" arrives; inasmuch as the obloquy with which the world at large too often visits the errors of the great, in their adversity, is proportioned rather to the height from which they have descended, than to the circumstances that may have occasioned their fall. Rochefoucault asserts that there is something not altogether displeasing to us in the misfortunes of our friends; but, if his axiom deserve to be recognised at all, it is only in a sense widely different from the one in which he intended it to be understood. The misfortunes of our friends may sometimes afford us that kind of melancholy satisfaction, which is derived from the disposition, and a consciousness of the ability, to alleviate them; but persons who occupy a rank and station greatly above the "common lot" seldom excite the sympathy of their inferiors. Like the lofty mountain, lifted above the genial atmosphere of the plain, they are removed beyond the influence of those humanities which are freely exchanged in the world below; and the jealousy engendered by the factitious advantages of rank and wealth, frequently converts what might otherwise be indifference, into a feeling more nearly allied to satisfaction, and sometimes |