Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/161

 Devonshire a few years before the Revolution, on the scite of an older edifice possessed and inhabited by the Cavendishes one hundred and fifty years, previous to that time. It certainly may be considered as a noble specimen of that highly decorated style of building imported from Italy about one hundred and twenty years ago, and so much in vogue in this country for half a century—magnificent, but heavy; expensive, but devoid of taste. The fabrick is exactly square, each side measuring one hundred and ninety-one feet; and having a noble quadrangle in the centre, the fronts of which are superbly ornamented with masonry representing military trophies. The south front also is in the same grand style, with a quaint motto inscribed upon its pediment, punning upon the family name; "Cavendo tutus" This opens upon the park, a range of well-planted ground nine miles in circumference. The famous cascade, one of those grand water-works which fifty years ago rendered Chatsworth the greatest wonder of Derbyshire, lies to the east of the house, and is commanded by the windows of the grand apartments. It consists of a series of flights or stages of steps, one hundred and fifty feet from one end to the other; crowned at the top by a temple, the reservoir whence the water is made to play. This