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Greenwich, Windsor, etc.

"Ye mariners of England!

That guard your native seas,
Whose flag has braved a thousand years

The battle and the breeze!"

I TOOK a little steamer at Hungerford Market, and after a delightful sail down the Thames, was landed in about half an hour at Greenwich. It is from this place that the longitude is most generally reckoned; and here the British sailor, when worn out in the service of the country, is permitted to spend the evening of life, surrounded by every comfort which his wants demand. The noble hospital for aged and disabled seamen is calculated to accommodate, with great convenience, two thousand seven hundred and ten pensioners, and one hundred and five nurses. I need not say that it is usually full. The building has a very imposing appearance from the water, and covers a great area. The park around it affords pleasant rambles for those who are able to walk. It stands on the south bank of the Thames, and a

large number of boats are provided for the use and amusement of the more active inmates. It was very pleasing to see the old men seeking employment according to their several tastes, all seemingly as happy as the infirmities of old age would allow. I went into some of their sleeping apartments, and found them clean and comfortable. In what is termed the "Painted Room," they have a collection of pictures, mostly naval scenes, many of them illustrative of Nelson's victories. In this room and the one adjoining are models of the different vessels which Nelson commanded, and in a glass case, the coat and waistcoat worn by him when he received his death-wound on the quarterdeck of the Victory, at the battle of Trafalgar. Such a charity, carrying as it does blessings to thousands, is above all praise, and is a great honor to the British people.

While in London, I one day went down to Windsor, which is twenty-one miles by the Great Western Railway. This palace and stronghold was originally built by William I., and has, during many successive reigns, been a favorite country residence of the British sovereigns. The castle wall encloses thirty-two acres. It overlooks the river Thames,

which is here insignificant in point of size, but nevertheless a very pretty stream. An order, which I had procured without charge in London, gave me admission to the state apartments. They are very gorgeously carved, painted, and gilded, though in magnitude they scarcely equalled my expectations. The ceilings, which are generally about thirty-four feet in height, are made of elegantly moulded stucco. The walls in some cases are covered with red silk curtains, in others with beautifully wrought tapestry, chiefly scriptural subjects. The history of Esther and Mordecai is continued through a suite of rooms, and occupies several hundred yards of elegant tapestry. The first room into which I was shown was the "Vandyke Room," the walls of which are hung with the paintings of this celebrated artist, principally portraits of the royal family. The second, the Queen's drawing-room, contains six landscapes of Italian scenery, by Zuccarelli. The third and fourth, the State ante-room, and the grand vestibule. The fifth, the Waterloo chamber, which is a fine room, 98 by 47, in the Elizabethan style, and is a repository for the portraits of eminent men, sovereigns, statesmen, and celebrated military

commanders, who were connected with the battle of Waterloo. It is lighted from the top, through a lantern of ground glass, extending the whole length of the room. The furniture is of richly carved oak. In this room King William gave the dinners commemorative of the battle, surrounded by the surviving military commanders who were engaged in it. This room contains thirty-seven portraits, some of which are full length; among them are the following:-Frederick Duke of York, George III., George IV., William IV., Archduke Charles, Prince Schwartzenberg, Charles X. of France, Metternich, Duke de Richelieu, Pope Pius VII., Alexander Emperor of Russia, Francis II. of Austria, Frederick III. of Prussia, Blucher, Wellington, Castlereagh, &c. The grand banquetinghall is the finest apartment; it is 200 feet by 34. The whole ceiling is divided off into 312 panels, or bays, as they are called, each bay containing two shields, emblazoned with the armorial bearings of the Knights of the Garter, from the first institution of the order to the present time, a period of nearly five hundred years. An immense table extends the whole length of the room, on which dinner is served on state occasions.

The Round Tower, the oldest part of the castle, interested me very much. It was here that John, King of France, and David, King of Scotland, were confined. A long flight of stone steps leads to the top, from which the view is very fine. On every side the country was clothed with a rich carpet of green. This view extends for miles over as beautiful a landscape as ever met human gaze. Immediately at the base of the hill on which the castle stands, lies the town of Windsor, through which the Thames meanders in silent beauty. A little beyond lies the village of Eton, with its venerable and illustrious seminary. This celebrated school was founded in October, 1440, and for upwards of four hundred years has been one of the most noted places in English history. There are at present about seven hundred pupils within its precincts. Further on shoots up to heaven the spire of Stoke Poges church, with its "country church-yard," the same which suggested the immortal elegy of Gray, and near whose venerable walls the remains of the poet lie.

"Can storied urn or animated bust

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can honor's voice provoke the sleeping dust?
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?"

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