About eleven o'clock we found ourselves going up the old stone steps to
the castle. It was the last day of a fair which had been holden in this
part of the country, and crowds of the common people were flocking to the
castle, men, women, and children pattering up the stairs before and after
us.
We went first through the state apartments. The principal thing that
interested me was the ball room, which was a perfect gallery of Vandyke's
paintings. Here was certainly an opportunity to know what Vandyke is. I
should call him a true court painter--a master of splendid
conventionalities, whose portraits of kings are the most powerful
arguments for the divine right I know of.
The queen's audience chamber is hung with tapestry representing scenes
from the book of Esther. This tapestry made a very great impression upon
me. A knowledge of the difficulties to be overcome in the material part of
painting is undoubtedly an unsuspected element of much of the pleasure we
derive from it; and for this reason, probably, this tapestry appeared to
us better than paintings executed with equal spirit in oils. We admired it
exceedingly, entirely careless what critics might think of us if they knew
it....
From the state rooms we were taken to the top of the Round Tower, where we
gained a magnificent view of the Park of Windsor, with its regal avenue,
miles in length, of ancient oaks; its sweeps of greensward; clumps of
trees; its old Herne oak, of classic memory; in short, all that
constitutes the idea of a perfect English landscape. The English tree is
shorter and stouter than ours; its foliage dense and deep, lying with a
full, rounding outline against the sky. Everything here conveys the idea
of concentrated vitality, but without that rank luxuriance seen in our
American growth. Having unfortunately exhausted the English language on
the subject of grass, I will not repeat any ecstasies upon that topic.
After descending from the tower we filed off to the proper quarter, to
show our orders for the private rooms. The state apartments, which we had
been looking at, are open at all times, but the private apartments can
only be seen in the queen's absence, and by special permission, which had
been procured for us on this occasion by the kindness of the Duchess of
Sutherland.
One of the first objects that attracted my attention when entering the
vestibule was a baby's wicker wagon, standing in one corner; it was much
such a carriage as all mothers are familiar with; such as figures largely
in the history of almost every family. It had neat curtains and cushions
of green merino, and was not royal, only maternal. I mused over the little
thing with a good deal of interest....
In the family breakfast room we saw some fine Gobelin tapestry,
representing the classical story of Meleager. In one of the rooms, on a
pedestal, stood a gigantic china vase, a present from the Emperor of
Russia, and in the state rooms before we had seen a large malachite vase
from the same donor. The toning of this room, with regard to color, was
like that of the room I described in Stafford House--the carpet of green
ground, with the same little leaf upon it, the walls, chairs, and sofas
covered with green damask.
The whole air of these rooms was very charming, suggestive of refined
taste and domestic habits. The idea of home, which pervades everything in
England, from the cottage to the palace, was as much suggested here as in
any apartments I have seen. The walls of the different rooms were
decorated with portraits of the members of the royal family, and those of
other European princes.
After this we went thro the kitchen department--saw the silver and gold
plate of the table; among the latter were some designs which I thought
particularly graceful. To conclude all, we went through the stables. The
men who showed them told us that several of the queen's favorite horses
were taken to Osborne; but there were many beautiful creatures left, which
I regarded with great complacency. The stables and stalls were perfectly
clean, and neatly kept; and one, in short, derives from the whole view of
the economies of Windsor that satisfaction which results from seeing a
thing thoroughly done in the best conceivable manner.
BLENHEIM [Footnote: From "Famous Homes of Great Britain and Their
Stories." A.H. Malan, Editor. By arrangement with the publishers, G.P.
Putnam's Sons. Copyright, 1899.]