[Illustration: THE CHAPEL ROYAL, WHITEHALL.]
We will now take a brief view of Westminster, the region of palaces, and
first of all pause at the most ancient and famous of them, Whitehall, of
which only the Banqueting House remains. This was originally the
residence of the Archbishops of York, and here lived Cardinal Wolsey in
great splendor until his downfall, when Henry VIII. took Whitehall for
his palace and made large additions to the buildings, entering it as a
residence with his queen, Anne Boleyn. The sovereigns of England lived
in Whitehall for nearly two centuries, and in Charles I.'s reign it
contained the finest picture-gallery in the kingdom. This unhappy king
was beheaded in front of the Banqueting House, being led to the
scaffold out of one of the windows. James II. left Whitehall when he
abandoned the kingdom, and accidental fires in the closing years of the
seventeenth century consumed the greater part of the buildings. The
Banqueting House, which is one hundred and eleven feet long and a fine
structure of Portland stone, is all that remains, and it is now used as
a royal chapel, where one of the queen's chaplains preaches every
Sunday. Rubens' paintings commemorating King James I. are still on the
ceiling.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL (BANQUETING-HALL),
WHITEHALL.]
In the district of Whitehall is also the army headquarters and office of
the commander-in-chief, the Duke of Cambridge--now known popularly as
the "Horse Guards," because in front of it two mounted horsemen stand on
duty all day in horse-boxes on either side of the entrance. The clock
surmounting the building in its central tower is said to be the standard
timekeeper of London for the West End. A carriage-way leads through the
centre of the building to St. James Park, a route which only the royal
family are permitted to use. Not far away are the other government
offices--the Admiralty Building and also "Downing Street," where resides
the premier and where the secretaries of state have their offices and
the Cabinet meets. Here are the Treasury Building and the Foreign
Office, and from this spot England may be said to be ruled. In this
neighborhood also is Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London
Metropolitan Police, where the chief commissioner sits and where lost
articles are restored to their owners when found in cabs or
omnibuses--an important branch of police duty. It obtained its name from
being the residence of the Scottish kings when they visited London.
[Illustration: THE HORSE GUARDS, FROM THE PARADE GROUND.]