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The sale of Newstead was a cruel sacrifice to Lord Byron; it might even be regarded as a crime; but that a nobleman ought to pay his debts at any price. It is to be hoped that the new owner will respect the abbey, were it only for the sake of the beautiful farewell which the author of Childe Harold addressed to it at parting.

I remain, &c.

LETTER XXII..

TO M. ADOLPHE DE CHEVRY.

I HAVE paid a second visit to Richmond, which has afforded me no less pleasure than the first. The prospect should be seen on a sun-shiny day. A cloudy sky, by confounding the various tints of the verdure, produces a sameness of effect, and deprives the picture of all animation. The Thames itself seems to forget to flow, when the sun beams do not play upon its surface.

I have also been to Windsor, which may be called the Versailles of the kings of England. But it is a gothic Versailles, and that epithet renders it impossible to draw any comparison between the palace of the most magnificent of sovereigns and the castle of one of his feudal lords. * At the

* The English will perhaps say this is gasconading. But they must recollect the absurd title of king of France which their monarchs assumed for ages. Even Charles II. scrupled not to take this title, though he was in the pay of Louis XIV.

distance of three miles, Windsor Castle is discernible, with its terraces, towers, and waving banners, and the Thames flowing at its feet. This royal residence, which was built by William the Conqueror, enlarged by Edward III., embellished by Charles II., and finally repaired by the late king, consists of several buildings, whose irregularity adds to the effect of the whole. The castle, which is situated on the declivity of a hill, is terminated by a terrace 1870 feet long. On reaching this terrace, after passing through the gloomy court-yards, whose mournful solitude resembles that of a prison, a feeling of enthusiasm is excited at the aspect of the surrounding scene, which comprises a view of twelve different counties. The venerable walls of the castle have a certain air of royalty, and the ivy crowned towers are the more interesting when imagination associates them with the lovely English landscape which extends on every side.

In the first court, on an artificial eminence, covered with grass, stands the Round Tower.— This building contains the apartments of the governor, and is celebrated for having been the prison of James I. of Scotland, who was perfidiously seized in spite of the faith of treaties. In this very place, too, there was once confined a king of France, who sacrificed his freedom for his honour. His pretended coat of mail is shewn as a monument: it would have been better to have engraved on the walls his own noble words, which

might have served as a lesson to his conquerors.* Here also languished the gallant Surrey, who was condemned to death by the jealousy of Henry VIII. In the second court is the chapel, or collegiate church, of Windsor, the largest of the three royal chapels of England, and that which is most remarkable for chaste and elegant architecture. The interior is of an elliptical form. The choir, in which the knights of the garter are installed, is furnished with thirty stalls, surmounted by the banners and arms of each member of the order. The sight of these emblazoned escutcheons, the altar adorned with the arms of Edward, and the brilliant paintings on the gothic windows, transport one to the ages of chivalry. A religious. sentiment completes this poetic illusion, when the solemn peal of the organ, harmonizing with the voices of the choristers, raises a pious emotion in the heart, and excites that vague kind of reverie which is so favourable to the worship of the past.

The royal apartments, which were furnished by Charles II. revive recollections of a different kind. There is nothing remarkable in the rooms themselves, except, indeed, that called St. George's, which the cicerone declares to be one of the finest in Europe. The queen's chamber contains a state bed, which is said to have cost thirteen thousand guineas.

There are some of Guido's pictures in Windsor

* Our King John said, "If good faith were banished from the rest of the world, it ought still to exist in the hearts of kings.”

castle, which I did not very much admire. The richness of their colouring did not make amends for their want of expression. Venus and the Graces are deficient in beauty; the deliverance of Andromeda should have been more tragical, and Judith gazes at the head of Holofernes with an air of timidity, which calls to mind Racine's epigram :

"Je pleure, helas! sur ce pauvre Holoferne,

Si méchamment mis à mort par Judith."

There is a charming St. Catharine by Corregio; and the two Misers, by Quintin Matsys, is a striking original picture. The late king employed West to paint some pictures for the audience chamber. These productions, however, possess no extraordinary merit. The picture in the chapel, by the same artist, is better.

I made only a short excursion into Windsor forest; but I visited Eton college, to which I shall take another opportunity of alluding.

The late king, who resided chiefly at Windsor, lies buried in the chapel, with his royal consort, his beloved daughter Amelia, and his grand-daughter Princess Charlotte. The name of George III. will remain attached to perhaps the most extraordinary reign of the English monarchy; though during his latter years, that sovereign was doomed to be merely a crowned phantom. The modern Lear, deprived of sight and reason, and obliged to obey the commands of his own servants, enjoyed only occasional lucid intervals, as if to be made sensible of the unhappy discord which prevailed in

his family. The dignity which a long reign confers, even on the most insignificant monarch, did not protect George III. from the severe censure of the opposition party. Even history will perhaps grant him only negative virtues, and will accuse him of having, by his obstinacy and vindictive spirit, prolonged the useless conflict between England and America. However, the words which he addressed to the ambassador of the United States, certainly display greatness of mind. He told Mr. Adams, on his first audience, that though he had been the last man in England to acknowledge the independence of America, yet that, since the act was ratified, he should be the last to violate it. But George III. (who, in this sense, was a truly constitutional king) reigned almost continually under the controul of a dictatorial minister, to whom all the merit or blame of his actions must be attributed. He was the first prince of his dynasty who was truly an Englishman, and his influence extended only over the manners and opinions of his court. Our Henry IV. was the first gentleman in his dominions, and in an unchivalric age, George III. was the first farmer in his.

The simplicity of his manners, and the authority of his example and principles, had a salutary effect in England after the corrupt administration of Sir Robert Walpole. The memoirs of individuals, and the satire of the romance of Chrysal, bear evidence of the complete demoralization which existed in

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