The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1867-10-10
Miscellaneous.
The Castles of the Nobility i'm
England.
From Colonel FOrney's Letters. ]

From Colonel FOraey's Letters.
Within few days I have visited
the seats of the surrounding nobility,
for Strat-ford-On-AvOn is literary filled
with the stately castles of the ancient
families. What an unwritten, yet un-
forgotten poem it is, the humble grave
of Shakespeare in the center of these
destinations palaces! The unpretend-
ing poet, safe in his everlasting fame,
and the living peer, spending his mil
lions to keep his dead ancestors from
Oblivion. Within. short ride by rail
is "Blenheim," the gorgeous estate of
the Duke of Marlborough, well de-
Iscribed as Gan earthly paradise" 1t
was presented by Queen Anne to the
Great Duke after his glorious victory
at Blenheim, and Parliament voted
two millions five hundred thousand
dollars for its adornment. The Opu-
lence that marked the original gift has
been initiated by the prOfusiOn of the
succeeding Outlays to maintain its
grandeur. A park of twenty-seven
hundred acres, filled with flOcks of
sheep and herds of deer-an artificial
lake covering over two hundred acres
plants and flowers fOm every quar-
ter of the known WOrld-Walks, wa
terfalls and fountains-endless statua-
ry-tapestries and paintings nearly
two hundred years old, including an
cient masterpieces of Rubens and I'll
tian--a library two hundred feet long,
containing nearly eighteen thousand
volumes, the whole of these luxuries
included in q building the front of
which is three hundred and fifty feet
in Iength-all to do honor to a success
full General and his naughty duchess,
who, Notwithstanding his victories,
is denounced by Macaulay as a cor
rupt, faithless and dangerous cOurtier I!
And all this vast expanse Of soil and
these priceless luXUries are left for
nine months Of the year to the care of
a few servants, because the present
owner cannot bear the cost of living
here, while hundreds and thousands
of Gods creatures are living and al
most starving at his very gates You
thus can have an idea of what is call
ed the territorial aristOcracy of England.
Eight miles from Snakespeare's grave
is the stately castle of the Earl of War
wick, where, though the grounds are
not so extensive as those of -''Blen-
heim," the inner objects are scarcely
less costly. Here, indeed, the Muse
of History can recall the past and
forecast the future; but the contrast be-
tween the enduring renOwn of a great
genius like Shakespeare, and the fleet
ing fame of those who lived only up
on their princes favors, remains the
same. "Kenilworth" is in the same
locality. l wandered among its moss
covered ruins-aI unroOfed and de-
serted as they are-and traced the
lines of the huge structure which three
hundred years ago re-echOed to the
revelry Of the loyal cOurtiers and their
retainers, and re-read in the fascinating
pages of Sir Walter Scott the bitter
rivalries of Essex. and Leicester, the
sad fate Of Amy RObsart, the splendid
progress of Queen Elizabeth from Lon
don, as described by the Wizard of
the North; and I fancied the crowds
that thrOnged the roads and filed the
broad demesne around the residence of
the handsome favOrite. Not far off is
'sChatwOrth," the estate of the Duke
Of Devonshire, far more expensive
though more modern than "Blen-
HEINZ" Here I found a park of two
thousand acres and over six thousand
deer; a palace Of quadrangulaE form,
with an open court in the middle, in
the center of which is q splendid
fountain. 1t is impossible, even if it
were any part of my purpose, to de-
scribe the works of art and the mon
ey spent to adorn an establishment
occupied only exceptionally by its ti-
tied owner. The gardens and cOnser-
vatOry are the gems. They were plan
ned and laid out by Sir Joseph Pax
ton, who was formerly a common
gardener Of the Duke, and whose sala-
ry was larger than that ofthe Presi-
dent of the United States, Close at
hand is Haddon Hall, another old
castle, with large grounds, and in the
same circle, is Newstead Abbey, the
abode Of Lord Byron, now owned and
occupied by Colonel WiIdman, a gen
tIeman of cultivation and taste.
Tho CbiCaoo Times so1-g. t,yIybo,, q