Vandyck In England.

Earl of Warwick ( died 1658 ); the hands , unfoi tunately , gloved : — " Warwick ' s bold Earl ! than whom no title bears A greater sound among our British Peers . " Waller .

A second of the same nobleman ( engraved m Houbraken and in Lodge ) is at Wimpole ( Lord Hardivicke ' s ) , in Cambridgesliire . The picture at Warwick Castle is a copy from Lord Hardwicke ' s . In the half of Lord Chancellor Clarendon ' s collection UOAV at The Grove , is the full-length , in

armour , of George Hay , second Earl of Kinuoul , who succeeded his father in 1634 , and , d ying in 1644 , ivas buried at Waltham Abbey , in Essex . This lord , before his father ' s death , was captain of the Yeomen of the Guard to King Charles I . Another knee-piece ( a seventh ) represents

Mountjoy Blount , Earl of Neivport ( diecl 1665 ) , and George Lord Goring , son of the first Earl of Norwich , ivho died in 1662 , Avith Charles , his son and successor , ( died 1670 ) in the centre of the composition , tying on his scarf . The ori g inal is at Petivorth , and a repetition at Kimbolton , both fine . Whoever remembers this charming and characteristic composition will like Avhat follows : —

" There ivas at that time [ 1650 at Madrid ] the Lord Goring , son . to the Earl of Norwich ; he had a command under Philip the Fourth of Spain , against the Portuguese ; he was generally esteemed a good and groat commander , and had been brought up iu Holland in his 3 'outh , of vast natural parts ; for I have heard your father [ Sir . Richard Eanshaw e ] say , he hath dictated to several persons at once

that were upon dispatches , and all so admirably well , that none of them could be mended . He was exceedingly facetious and pleasant company , and in converstion where good manners are due , the civilest person imaginable , so that he would blush like a girl . He was very tall and very handsome ; ho had been married to a daughter of the Earl of Corkbut never had a child bher . His

, y expenses were ivhat he could get , and his debauchery beyond all precedents , which at last lost him that love the Spaniards had for him ; and that country not admitting his constant drinking , he fell sick of a hectic fever , in which he turned his religion , and with that artifice could scarce get to keep him whilst he lived in that sickness , or to bury him when he was dead . " *

Of this Lord Goring , who died abroad in the character of a Dominician friar , the great Lord Clarendon tells us that he had wit and courage ancl understanding ancl ambition , uncontrolled b y any fear of God or man ; addin g that " dissimulation was his master-piece . "

An eighth double knee-piece portrait represents the celebrated Lucy Percy , Countess of Carlisle , and her sister Dorothy , Countess of Leicester . Where the original is I knoiv not . Walpole bought the Penshurst copy , in 1764 , for twenty-nine guineas . t Lady Leicester is in red . This picture ,

which Wal p ole calls " very fine , " Avas sold at the Strawberry Hill sale for £ 231 , and is UOAV at Basildon Park , in Berkshire , the seat of the late James Morrison , Esq . t

Vandyck In England.

I have but one more to chronicle of the twin and knee-piece character , and that one is very little known—the subject , Arthur , Lord Hopton , of Stratton ( died 1652 ) , and Ms son . He is seated , the son is standing ; both are in black . This once fine picture , for it is sadly injured , is

still to be seen at Rushbrooke , near Bury St . Edmund's in Suffolk , the moated seat of the Jermyn family . At Bothivell Castle , in Scotland , is a believedin Vandyck , of Paul , second and last Viscount Bayning ( died 1638 ) . He is in black , with his

left hand on his hip , his ri g ht holding a black hat . Of this p icture , which I have not seen , Waagen Avrites , " Easy in motive , and carefully painted in his brownish tones ;—the heavy colouring of the landscape and the many details shoAv another hand . " *

Another man of note in his day sat to Sir Anthony more than once . This ivas Sir Kenelm Di gby , of Stoake Dry , in the county of Rutland , " a gentleman "—I adopt Ben Jonson ' s words : — " absolute in all numbers . " PETER CUNNINGHAM , in the Builder . ( To le continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

DUE ENQUIRY INTO CHAEACTEE . BEFOEE INITIATION " . As some of our lodges seem to be blackballing and excluding , right and left , not on account of proposed initiate's character , but from personal piques and the unwieldiness of large lodges—which evil might have been averted had proper inquiry been made into the characters of the obnoxious brethren before initiation

—the following paper , though old , and from an American source , may be of some service at the present time , in which hope it is forwarded by your old contributor , Ex . Ex . " The importance , and , indeed , absolute necessity , of a proper and careful inquiry into the character of

candidates for initiation cannot be too often or toodeeply impressed upon the minds of all members of lodges . It is the greatest of all the guards that the wisdom of our ancestors has thrown , like ramparts ,, around the security and safety of our Order . So important has this preliminary step towards initiation

been deemed , that the Ancient Constitutions twice prescribe it as a positive regulation . In the article of Mdkinff , it is said , ' no lodge shall ever make a Mason Avithout due inquiry into his character ; ' and , again , in the article of the duty of Masons , it is declared that " no man can be accepted a member of a

particular lodge , without previous notice one month before given to the lodge ; . in order to make dueinquiry into the reputation and capacity of the candidate , unless by dispensation . ' " This ancient regulation has , perhaps on account of its evident importance to the institution , been better