Leaving London by the South-western Railway, and skirting along the edge
of Windsor Park, we pass Virginia Water, the largest artificial lake in
England. Upon its bosom float miniature frigates, and its banks are
bordered by a Chinese fishing temple, and a colonnade which was brought
from the African coast near Tunis. Here also are a hermitage overlooking
the lake, and the triangular turreted building known as the Belvedere,
where a battery of guns is kept that was used in the wars of the last
century. Not far beyond is Sunninghill, near which was Pope's early
home, and in the garden of the vicarage are three trees planted by
Burke, Chesterfield, and Bolingbroke. Farther westward is the famous
Ascot race-course on Ascot Heath, where the races are run in June upon
a circular course of about two miles, the neighborhood containing many
handsome villas. Still journeying westward, the route passes Wokingham,
where Gay, Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot were on one occasion detained at
the Rose Inn in wet weather, and whiled away the time by composing the
song of "Molly Mog."
[Illustration: BEARWOOD.]
Just beyond Wokingham is the fine estate of Bearwood, the seat of John
Walter, Esq., the proprietor of the London _Times_, one of the stately
rural homes of England. Here, in a large and beautiful park which
retains much of its original forest character, and standing upon the
terraced bank of a lovely lake, Bearwood House has within a few years
been entirely rebuilt, its feature being the central picture-gallery
containing a fine collection of paintings, around which clusters a suite
of grand apartments. The estate includes several thousand acres, and in
the many pleasant cottages scattered over it and the homes at Bearwood
village many of the aged and infirm employes of the _Times_ pass their
declining years. The _Times_, which was founded January 1, 1788, by the
grandfather of the present proprietor, has steadily grown in commanding
influence until it occupies the front rank in English journalism and is
the leading newspaper of the kingdom. Its proprietor has recently
entirely rebuilt its publication-offices in Printing-House Square and on
Queen Victoria Street in London, adapting all the modern appliances of
improved machinery and methods to its publication. It is at Bearwood,
however, that his philanthropic ideas also find a broad field of
usefulness in caring for those who have grown gray in the service of the
_Times_, and thither every year go the entire corps of employes to enjoy
an annual picnic under the spreading foliage of the park, while no home
in England is more frequented by Americans or extends to kin from across
sea a more generous hospitality.