BLENHEIM HOUSE, a princely mansion erected by Parliament for the duke of Marlborough at Woodstock, near Oxford, and, with the manor of Woodstock, settled on the duke and his heirs, in consideration of his military services, and especially his decisive victory at Blenheim. The large sum of £500,000 was voted for the purchase of the manor and the erection of the building, which, notwithstanding the strictures of Swift and the criticisms of Evans and Walpole, is a magnificent pile, built by Sir John Vanbrugh, in a massive Italo-Corinthian style. The front from wing to wing extends to 348 feet ; and the great hall is a lofty and noble apartment in good proportions. There are a considerable number of fine pictures in the Blenheim collection, the most noted being " The Young St Augustine and Pope Gregory," by Titian ; " Europa," " Esther," and " The Massacre of the Innocents," by P. Veronese ; " St Jerome," by Tintoretto ; " Magdalen," by C. Dolce ; many historical subjects, by Rubens ; portraits by him and Vandyck ; and " The Woman taken in Adultery," and " Isaac blessing Jacob," by Rembrandt.