Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-08-03

ed 0W,-and then began TO hope-but
said he, "lt would give me great pleasure
to walk with you through the palace /: the
poIters are all away, but if can get the
keys we will be our own porters, and take
our own time.''
And he soon found the keys: and we
mounted the kings staircase and entered
the halls of Henry the Eighth.
The story of Wolsey, the Prime Minister
of Henry VIII, is familiar to every youth.
full reader. And it should be. His life is
the grandest lesson for statesmen, and in.
deed for all mankind, that English history
presents. By rapid strides he rose from
obscurity to be more powerful, more veal
thy, and far more luxurious than his mon
arch and then he fell like Lucifer and per-
ished nlseraby, by poison, to escape the
shame of the scalfold. In the days of his
greatness he resolved to make palace of
unrivalled glory. He called on foreign and
domestic doctors to select the healthiest
and the falrest spot in the vicinity of Lon
don, and this being chosen, he bought up
thousands of surrounding acres, ,and convert
ed them into parks, and gardens, and hun
ting grounds. He lavished untold sums of
gold in building house that covers eight
acres of ground, with apartments to lodge
and entertain some thousands of guests I;
and these he embellished with the most
costly paintings, and every luxury that the
wit of man could suggest or voluptuous
Imagination conceive. The records of the
revellings that once made these halls jo-
cund for successive months, appear like ro-
nance to us who live in days when vice is
less public, if moi less common than in the
times of our ancestors. The king accepted
the present of the palace in 1880, and here
he sat up his royal residence and right re-
gally he held sway in these now peaceful
courts. | have Just been in the Chapel
Royal, where successive monarch have
heard prayers. Here Edward VI. was bap-
tized with Archbishop Cranmer for god fa-
ther. Here Jane Seymour, his mother,
died few days afterwards; and here the
manywived Henry VIII, having disposed
in various ways of FIVE, was married to La
dy Catharine Parr. Here, too, James the
first presided at the famous conference be-
tween the PreSbyterians and the Establish
ed Church, and out of that conference
grew our present translation Of the English
Bible. Queen Ann. his wife, died here
Charles |. was monarch and Cromwell was
master after him, and here celebrated the
nuptials of his daughter After the resto-
ration, successive sovereigns resided here,
but | will not weary you with the history.
William III. adorned the palace and made
extensive Improvements, and there are
monuments of his taste on every hand
But what is now the use to which it is all
applied? The state apartments embrace a
series of magnificent rooms in the central
palace, quadrangle with fountain court
in the centre. Here is the Guard Cham
Der, the Kings Presence Chamber the Au-
dience Chamber,the Kings Drawing Room,
the Kings Bedroom, the Queens Bed
room, the Queens Drawing Room, the
Queens Audience Chamber,the Great Hall
hung with the most remarkable tapestries
and emblematical flags. These and many
other apartments have not named are now
hung with paintings all but innumerable by
the most illustrious masters, making gale
ries of priceless value; portraits of the most
distinguished men and the most beautiful
women, in the costume of the times in
which they lived: : on many of which |
could descant at any length, but IN such a
wilderness Of paint, | know not where 10
begin. | could more easily recite the great
men whose portraits are not here.
was Fastening on lest should be tres
passing on my kind and excellent friends
courtesy, but he insisted on my proceeding
leisprely and studying all that | wished to
master. And there we enjoyed the silence
and solemn quiet of these old halls, looking
upon the faces of men and women that had
once shone in those very courts. One
chamber contains all the frail beauties of
the licentious court Of Charles III. Anoth-
er is filled with scenes from Holy Writ
making strange contrasts now as oil olden
time: here is the portrait of little man, Sir
Jeffrey Hudson, who was so very small,
that at feast given to Charles |. he was
actually served up alive in cold pie: and
then we have fullength portrait of man
seven feet two inches high. Philosophers,
poets and painters, kings, queens and
statesmen, priests and people are here in
endless ranks. 1t was so much better to
be alone in this study than in the midst of
crowd, and my guide was so familiar with
Me pictures, that he enlivened the hours
with anecdotes new and entertaining, and
| was not unwilling TO give hlm one or two
in return And when we had at last COM
pleted the circuit, he sent for the keys of
the old kitchens unused for two hundred
yaarS whara tba Cardinals faoStS uara
prepared. The ire-places were sixteen feet
across, and the iron bars still stood in them
on which the spits rested to roast the meats
before huge fires; and then we explored
the old vaults where the rich wines were
stored, and we thought, for cardinal, that
Wolsey must have had things quite com
Portable
"And now it is dinner time, come and
dine with me-" my new friend said to me
as we emerged from the lower regions
And IN spite of all my protestatlons to the
contrary, he insisted, and the rest of the
lay was spent at his hospitabe board
We had good time there too. And was
not all this as handsome specimen of
kindness to stranger of genuine urbanity
and hospitality as you ever met with.
refrain from the mention of his name, for |
know that should offend him if | did not,
but take pleasure in recording it as not
only English but beautiful and an Incl
dent that shall cherish when return to
my own land, where such attentions to
strangers will trust never be uncommon,
as am sure they are not here In Amer