River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-10-10
WINDSOR CASTLE:
Hts Picturesque SURROUNDINGS and His
tOrIc AssoeiOns.
W. W. in the New York Tribune.

W. W. in the New York Tribune.
To see Windsor is TO comprehend, as
at a glance, the old feudal system, aud to
feel, IN profound and special way, the
pomp of English character and history.
More than this: 1t is to rise to that en-
nobing exaltation which always accom-
panie1 broad, retrospective contemplation
of the current of human affairs. In this
quaint, decorOus toWn-nestled at the
base of that mighty and magnificent cas-
tie which has been the home of princes
for more than five hundred years-tbe
imaginative mind wanders over vast
+. tracts of the past, ami beholds, as in a
mirror, the pageants of chivalry, the cor
Citations of armies, the schemes of states
mem the decay of transient systems, the
growth OF a rational civilization, and the
everlasting march of thought. Every
prospect of the region intensifies this sen
fiment of c2ntemplative grandeur. As
you look from the castle walls your g re
takes in miles. and miles of blooming
country, sprinkled over little hamlets.
wherein the UTMOST statehness OF learning
and rank is gracefully commingled with
ali that is lovely and soothing in rural
life. Not fan away rise the antique
towers of EtoI,
s.N1here grateful Science still adores
Her Henry's holy shade"
IT was in Wipds2r Castle that her Hen
~ was born: and there he often held his
court; and it is in vt. Georges Chapel
that his relies repose. In the dim dis
lance stands the Church Of Stoke-Po9is,
about which Gray was wont to wander,
t'Beneath those rugged elms, that yeW-
trees shade,' you recognize now deep
er significance than ever before IN the
<'solemn stiffness of the incompatible
Elepy. The luminous twilight Laood of
that immortal poem-its pensive reyerles
and solemn passions inherent In the
scene; and you feel that it was there,
there only, that the genius of its excep-
tiOnal author-austerely gentle and Sc
verely pure, and thus in perfect harmony
with its suTroundings-Cou not hav"
been moved TO that sublime Outburst OF
inspiration aud eloquence Near at hard,
in the midst of your reverie, the mellow
organ sounds from the chapel OF st.
George, where under '.frettcd vault" and
"long drawn aisle" depend the ghostly
Wondering banners Of ancient kpiohtsS
as still as the bones of the dead and gone
nOnarchs that crumble in the crypt be-
low In this church are many of the obi
kings and mobiles OF England. he hand
some and gallant Edward w. here found
his grave; and near it is that of the ac-
complished Hastings his faithful friend,
tQ the last and after. Here lies the dust
of the ferocious Henry VIII, and here
the ill-starred and hapIess Queen caro-
line; and here at midnight by the light
of torches, they laid beneath the
pavement the mangled body
of Charles I. As YOU stand on Windsor
Tamparts, bordering thus upon the
stored past and the eYanescence OF "ail
that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave,
YOUR eyes rest dTeamily ON green fields
far below, through which, under tall 6! ms,
the trimming and sparkling river flows
on without q sound, and in which few
figures, dwarfed by distance, fit heres and
there, in seeming aimless idleness; while
warned hOmeward by impending surset
the chattering birds circle and float
around the lofty towers OF the castle; and
delicate perfumes of seringa and jasmine
are waited up from the dusky unkn'Own
depths at the base of its ivied steep AT
such an hour l stood on those ram parts
and saw the shy villages and rich mea blows
of fertile Berkshire, all red and golden
with sunset light; and at such an hour |
stood IN the lonely cloisters OF ST. GeIorge' s
Chapel and heard the distant orga a sob,
and saw the sunlight fade up thei gray
walls, and felt and knew the sancthty OF
silence. Age and death have made TINS
church illustrious; but the spot itself has
its own innate charm of mystical I(epose.
mo use of lanthorns; and in one place. lay
Feathers and dust to-day and yesterday
The drive from the front of WinHser
Castle is through a broad and stately
avenue three mics in length, straight as
an arrow and level as standing pool;
and this white highway throughi the
green and fragrant sod is sumptuC9usly
embowered from end to end, with dc pnble
rows OF magnifcen: old elms 81 The
Windsor Avenue, however, like the
splendid chestnut grove at Bushyt Park,
long famous among the pageants OF rural
England, has been often and sufficiently
described. 1t is after leaving this that
the rambler comes upon the rare beauties
of Windsor Park anu Forest. From the
far end of the avenue,-where, IN most
superb position, the equestrian statue OF
King George rises on its massive pedes-
through shaded dell and and verdant
glade. past great gnarled beeeches and
under boughs of elm nd vew faDd oak,
till its silver thread is lost in ne distant
woods. At intervals a branching pathway
straves off to some secluded dodge, half
hidden in foliage-the property of the
Grown and the rustic residence of scion
Of the roval race. In one of these re-
treats dweit poor old George III. an the
DAYS of his mental darkness; ana the
memory of the agonizing king seems still
to cast a shadow on the mysterious and
melancholy house. They show yo9,
under glass. in one of the lodge gardens
an enormous grapevine, owned by the
Queen--a vine which. from its single
stalwart trunk, spreads its teeming
branches, laterallS, at least 200 hundred
feet IN each direction. So come use
and thrift, hand in hand viii romance
Many an aged oak is passed, IN
ysur progress, round which sat
still midnight" Herne the hunter
might still take his ghostiy prowl, shak-
ING ms chain "in a most hideous and
dreadful manner" The wreck of the
veritable Herne's Oak, It is said, was root
ed out, together with other ancient and
decayed trees, in the time of George III
and in somewhat too little fulfillment O.
his Majesty's command. This great parF
is fourteen mil 5 in circumference, anC
contains nearly 1900 acres; and many o
the Youngest trees that adorn it are NOR
than $50 years old. Far in Its heart yo'
stroll by Virginia Water-an artificial
lake, but faultless in its quiet beauty
and perceiye it so deep and 50 breeZ
that a full rugged ship-of-war, with heav.
armament can navigate its wind-swept
curling pillows. In the dim groves tina
fringe its margin are many nests wherei
nbessants are bred, TO fall by the roys
shot and 10 supply the royal tables; ther
YOU may contemplate, but not approach
Alta point in your walk, sequestered an
lonely. they have set up and skillfull
disposed the fragments of a genuine ruiz