Page:Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home (Volume 1).djvu/74

Rh But such a mead! such turf! such shade! "Father Thames" might be compared to an old king winding bis way through his court; the very sheep that were lying on the grass under the majestic trees in the "home park," looked like princes of the blood. The most thought-awakening object in the view is undoubtedly the Gothic pile of Eton College with its spires and antique towers. When the queen is at Windsor she walks every Sunday on this terrace, where she is liable to be jostled by the meanest of her subjects; and as the railway from London passes within a mile and a half of Windsor, she must often endure there collisions to which English blood has such repugnance.

We spent some hours in going through the magnificent apartments of the palace, looking at the pictures, the Gobelia tapestry, &c, &c. The quaint curious banqueting-room of the knights of the garter, with their insignia, pleased me best. Vacant places are left for future knights; but how much longer an institution will last that is a part of a worn-out machine, is a question which your children, dear C., may live to see solved.

We had enough of the enjoying spirit of children to be delighted, and felt much in the humour of the honest man who stud to Prince Esterhazy when he was blazing in diamonds, "Thank you for your diamonds." "Why do you thank me?" naturally asked the prince. "You have the trouble of them, and I the pleasure of looking at them." Wise and happy man! He solved a puzzling problem. In