Here could be seen the famous and
exquisite Vase of Warwick, in white marble, of unknown age and of
fabulous value, said to have been found at the bottom of a lake near
Hadrian's Villa, at Tivoli, in Italy. There were an immense number of
curios in the castle, some of which were connected with that famous
character Guy, Earl of Warwick, including his shield, sword, and helmet,
and his kettle of bell-metal, twenty-six feet wide and capable of
holding 120 gallons of water. We had no time to visit the interior of
the castle, but it was interesting to read, in one of his letters, what
Dr. Adam Clark saw there in 1797: "I was almost absolutely a prey to
astonishment and rapture while I contemplated the painting of the wife
of Schneider by Rubens, such a speaking canvas I never beheld." He saw
the large Etruscan vases collected by Sir William Hamilton, some bronze
cups dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum, and the bed in which Queen
Anne slept and which, according to report, she wrought with her own
hands. In the Armoury he was permitted to fit on some of the armour, and
attempted also to wield the sword of Guy, Earl of Warwick, which weighed
seventy pounds.
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