New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-23

n.
shall not attempt to speak directly Of Lon
don. The subject Is too vast. and my 6owi-
edge of II too raw and scanty. ! choose rather
10 give some account OF an excursion | have
made to the royal palace of Hampton Court
situated fifteen miles West of the City, where
the Thames. which runs through the grounds
adjacent has shrunk to the size of the Mohawk
at Schenectady, and think even less very
small steamboat sometimes runs up as high as
this point. but not regularly and for all practical
purposes the navigation terminates at Richmond,
four or five miles below
Leaving the city by Temple Bar. you pass
through the Strand, Charing Cross, the Hay
market Pail Mall and part of Regent-St into
Piccadilly, where you take an omnibus at the
White Horse Cellar Il give these names be-
cause they Will be familiar to many If not most
American readorS,) and proceed down Picca-
dlly passing St JamesS Park on the left, Hyde
Park and Kensngton Gardens on the right, and
so by Kensington Road 10 a fine suspension
bridge over the Thames you cross, and have
passed westerly out of London. You traverse
some two miles of very rich gardens, meadows,
&C and thence through the village OF Barnes,
composed mainly Of some two or three hundred
of the oldest. shabbiest tumble-down apologies
for human habitations that | ever saw so close
together Thence you proceed through rich,
thoroughly cultivated garden district, containing
several fine country seats, to Richmond, smart,
SNOWY village ten miles above London, and
popular resort for holiday peasure-SeekerS from
the great city, whether by steamboat, railway
I Hprp a
Of rowboats kept for hire. while the Star and
| Garter inn has a wide reputation for dinners
| and the scene from Its seCOnd-stOry bow window
! Is pronounced one of the finest in the kingdom
II certainly does not compare with that from the
| CatskIl Mountain House and many others IN
! our State. but Is good thing IN another way-a
lovely blending of wood water and sky with
gardens, edifices and other pleasing evidences OF
mans handwOrk PopeS residence at Twlck-
! enham. and Walpoe's Strawberry Hill are near
| Richmond.
Proceeding, we drove through portion of
| Bushy Park, the royal residence of the late
| Queen Dowager Adelaide, widow of William
| ~, who here managed, having house and
grounds, &c thrown in, to support existence ON
an allowance of $500, 900 a year. The Park is a
noble one, about half covered with ancient,
stately trees, among which large herds Of tame,
| porty deer are seen quietly feeding. mile or
two further brought rs to the grounds and palace
of Hampton Court, the end and aim of our Jour
| nev.
| This palace as built by the famous Cardinal
! Wolsey, so long the proud, powerful, ayarclouS
and corrupt lavorte of Henry VIII. Wolsey
commenced il in 1915. Being larger and more
splendid than any royal palace then IN being, Its
erection was employed by rival cOurtiers to eX-
| cite the King to envy and jealousy of his Premier
| -whereupon Wolsey gave it outright TO the mon
arch, who gave him the manor OF Richmond IN
requltal. Wolsey's disgrace, downfall and death
soon followed but | leave their portrayal to
! Hume and Shakspere. This palace became a
| ravonte residence OF nenry vfiI r.uwnru VI.
was born here, Queen Mary spent her honey
moon here, after her marriage with Philip of
Spain; Queen Elizabeth held many great fesi-
walls here James l. lived and Queen Anne his
wife died here ; Charles |. retired here first from
! the Plague, and alterward TO escape the ust re-
sentiment Of London in the time of the Great Re-
! belion After his capture he was imprisoned
! here. Cromwell saw one daughter married and
/ another die during his residence in this palace
! William ILL.,, Queen Ann, George l. and George
II. occasionally resided here but II has not been
a regal residence since the death of the latter.
But the grounds are still admirably kept the
shrubbery, park, fsh-pond, &c are quite attract
| i've, while famous grapevine, 80 years DID,
bears some LOO pounds per annum OF the choic-
est Black Hamburghs,' which are reserved for
! the Royal table, and (beng under glass; are said
| to keep fresh and sweet on the vine I'LL February
| A fine avenue of trees leads down to the Thames
and the grounds are gay with the flowers of the
season. The Park IS very large and the loca-
ton one OF the healthiest in the kingdom
Hampton Court Palace, though surrounded by
| guards and other appurtenances Of Royalty, IS
only inhabited by decayed servants Of the Court,
impoverished and broken-down sclons Of the Arls-
tocracy &c to whom the Royal generosity prof
fers a subsistence within It's walls | suppose
about two-thlrds Of II are thus occupied, while the
residue Is thrown open at certain hours to the
| public | spent two hours IN wandering through
this portion consisting of thirty rooms main
" attractive by reason of the Paintings and other
works of Art displayed their walls As a
/ whole the collection Is 10y no means good. the
best having been gradually distracted 10 adOm
those Palaces which Royalty still condescends to
inhabit, while worse and worst are removed from
those and deposited here; yet It was interesting
to me TO gaze at undoubted originals by Raphael,
Titan, Poussin, Rembrandt, Tenlers, Albert Du-
rer, Leonardo da Vnci, Tntoretto, Kneller,
Lely, &c, though not their masterpieces The
whole number of pictures, &c. here exhibited Is
something over One Thousand probably five
sixths Portraits Some of these have strong
Historical interest apart from their artistic merit
Loyola Queen Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, Admiral
Benbow, William Ill, Mary, Queen Of Scots,