THE SOLDIER'S FRIEND. -LeaHurst, Derbyshire-is a most picturesque and romantic spot. The quiet and secluded hamlet of Lea abounds in lovely scenery, and in interesting historical and literary associations. Lea Hurst is beautifully situated on rising ground, "in one of the most charming and extensive of the Derbyshire valleys, and surrounded with hills and mountains, rocks and woods of majestic and gigantic proportions, and watered by the winding Derwent and its tribu- tary streams." Of the hall itself, where the greatest part of Florence Nightingale's early life was passed, we cannot resist quoting this graphic description :- " The Hall, erected in the Elizabethan style, is most enchantingly situated on an expansive sloping lawn on the outer edge of an extensive park, and is surrounded and overhung with luxuriant trees. It is built in the form of a cross, with gables at its ex- tremities and on its sides, surmounted with hip knobs, with ball terminations; the windows, which open beneath the many gables, are square-headed, with dripstone and stone mullions, and the general contour of the building is much heightened by the strongly-built clustered chimney-stacks which rise from the roofs. At the extremities of the building, large bay windows stand out in the grounds, and are terminated with balustrades and battlements. The hall, with its out offices, gardens, and shrubberies, &c., is enclosed from the general park by a low fence, and is approached by a gateway, whose massive posts are terminated by globes of stone. The whole 7
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