"Sir John Sparrowe, Knight of the Green Cloth, in the reign of James II, by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

"Captain Robert Sparrowe, captain of the Train Bands.

"On the stair-case hangs a full-length portrait of George I, by G. Fountaine, 1727, presented by the monarch to John Sparrowe, bailiff of Ipswich, in return for attentions received during his visit to Ipswich from Mr. Sparrowe, and the presentation of a huge sweet cake called a Marchpane.

"On the upper landing-place hangs a likeness of Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles I, by Vandyke. "A portrait of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

"The present possessor of this interesting mansion has in his possession a genealogical descent of his family, commencing in the year 1419, with Thomas Sparrowe de Somersham in com Suffolk.

"It appears that the ancestors of the Sparrowe family were as anxious that their last and "narrow house" should be as snug and comfortable as that they inhabited when living. In St. Lawrence church, on the entrance to the family vault, are inscribed the following words :

"NIDUS PASSERUM."

An interesting relic of the riches of Ipswich in domestic structures existed a few years since in Tacket Street; but the last portion was removed in 1843. This was a part of the residence of Sir Anthony Wingfield, one of the executors of Henry VIII, but converted into a public house called the Tankard, now entirely rebuilt in front and named the Theatre Tavern. The Gentleman's Magazine, and Clarke's History of Ipswich, contain descriptions of part of the interior of the old building, which, as they were written when the mansion was to a certain extent perfect, are now extracted.

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"In the Tankard public-house some curious remains of the decorations of Sir Anthony's mansion still exist, particularly in a large room on the ground floor; the oak wainscot of which-beautifully carved in festoons of flowers, and a variety of devices-was formerly gilt, but is now painted blue and white. The ceiling is of groined work, carved and wrought something after the manner of Henry VIIth's chapel at Westminster. In various compartments of this ceiling, numerous coats of arms are sculptured, and have been emblazoned in their proper colours; most of which are defaced, but still several of those of the Wingfield family, encircled with the motto of the Order of the Garter, remain in tolerable preservation. This room is twenty-seven feet long, sixteen feet nine inches wide, and only nine feet five inches high. The ceiling is divided into panels sixteen inches and a half square; there are twelve of these in the length of the room, and eight in the breadth; each panel is bordered with a band, and alternately emblazoned with a coat of arms, or filled up with a projecting ornament, in the shape of an inverted pediment, with concave sides, richly carved, and pendentive six inches from the ceiling each of these projections terminates nearly in a point, tipped with a leaf or rose. There is one large beam intersects the ceiling, in the centre, the whole length of the room, and two smaller transverse ones-one of them a little deviating from its original horizontal position.

"Over the fire-place is a basso relievo, rudely carved in wood, and coloured in a tasteless style. On our inspection of this curious relic, it was melancholy to note how the figures had been mutilated, beheaded, and defaced. We were told that this wanton mischief was principally perpetrated by the military, when this was a garrison town and we were rejoiced

to find that the sober citizens of Ipswich were not guilty of such an outrage against decency and taste.

"The interpretation of this sculpture has been thus given, agreeable to the generally received but ridiculous tradition, that it represented the battle of Bosworth Field. "Leicester town, in one corner; several warriors in the centre; Sir Charles William Brandon, standard-bearer to the earl of Richmond, lies dead by his horse, and on the other side the standard; at a distance is the earl, with the crown placed upon his head by Sir William Stanley; in another is Leicester Abbey-the abbot coming out of the porch to compliment the earl." Now one would think that this was clear enough, but the magic wand of another conjuror turns the whole picture into the Judgment of Paris, and its consequences, in five compartments. "In the first," says this writer, "he appears seated, habited in the Phrygian robe and bonnet, amusing himself with his lute, when the three goddesses present themselves. The next scene is his adjudgment of the prize; when Juno, as Queen of Heaven, leads the way, followed by Venus disclosing all her charms, and Pallas with the Gorgon's head and Ægis. Paris, won by the attractions of the Goddess of Love, and her assistant son, who hovers above in the air, decrees to her the prize which he holds in his hand. We next view him armed cap a pie, reclining perhaps at the foot of the statue of his patroness, meditating his conquest; his lance lying beside him, and his horse standing saddled and bridled. The reclining warrior and the horse are the only figures in the piece that could possibly suggest the idea of the battle of Bosworth Field; but the latter might, with as much propriety, have been taken for the Trojan horse, as for that of Richard III, or Paris for that king. Below, in the left corner, we see Paris and some of his friends,