During the last century some Italians came to Dublin, who left their mark upon the interior decorations of rich men’s houses.  Many of the old houses retain the beautiful mantelpieces designed and executed by these accomplished artists.  A leading house-fitter of Dublin has, however, bought up a good many, and they are finding their way to London, where it is to be hoped they may produce a revolution in taste, for London mantelpieces are, as a rule, hideous.  Some of these specimens of art have been bought by wealthy Irishmen and transferred to their country-houses.  One nobleman, Lord Langford, whose ancestral home was wrecked in the rebellion of 1798, has lately been restoring it, and bought up many of the Dublin mantelpieces.

The ornamentation of Belvedere House, in Gardener Row, is particularly elaborate and in wonderfully good repair.

Irish family history contains few sadder stories than that of the first countess of Belvedere.  Lord Belvedere was a man of fashion who much frequented St. James’s, and indeed owed his elevation, first to a barony and then to an earldom, to the favor of that highly uninteresting monarch, George II.  Leaving his wife sometimes for long periods at Gaulston, a vast and dreary residence (since pulled down) in Westmeath, he betook himself to London, and Lady Belvedere at such times lived much with her husband’s brother, Mr. Arthur Rochfort, and his family.  It is said that some woman with whom Lord Belvedere had long been connected was determined to make mischief between him and his wife.  Eight years after their marriage, Lady Belvedere was accused of adultery with Mr. Rochfort:  in an action of crim. con. damages to the extent of twenty thousand pounds were given, and the defendant was obliged to fly the country.  For many years he lived abroad, but at length ventured to return, when his brother caused him to be arrested, and he died in confinement, protesting to the last, as did Lady Belvedere, his innocence.  For Lady Belvedere a terrible punishment for her alleged misdeeds was in store.  Her husband quitted Gaulston for a cheerful retreat in another part of the county, and henceforth that gloomy mansion became the prison-house of the unhappy countess.

When her imprisonment commenced Lady Belvedere was twenty-five.  For eighteen years she remained a prisoner.  Her husband often visited Gaulston, but uniformly avoided all personal communication with her.  Once she succeeded in speaking to him, but her entreaties were in vain, and thenceforward, whenever he was about the grounds at Gaulston, the attendant accompanying Lady Belvedere in her walks was instructed to ring a bell to give warning of her approach.  At length, after twelve years of captivity, Lady Belvedere contrived to escape, but Lord Belvedere, who had been apprised of the fact, reached her father’s house in Dublin before her, and she found that his representations had weighed so strongly with Lord Molesworth—­who