The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-07-16
4 DAY AT
L A Hampton Court


LONDON July 5-The coach drive from
London to Windsor, Oxford, Sevenoaks
and Hampton Court forms one its chiefest
attractions to the American traveller. The
coaches start from the Victoria, near Ira
talgar square, in the early hours of the
morning and are invariably well patron.
ized. There is no better way Of seeing the
many natural beauties within thirty-in
some cases siXty-miles Of London than by
taking trips on these several coaches. 1t
is infinitely less firing and monotonous
than railway travelling, and the well regu-
lated roads which traverse this country i'll
all directions are things we are unaccus-
toned to see in America, while each route
provides certain charms peculiar to ITSELF
Selecting the trip to Hampton Court we
mounted the "Vivid" at H. 80 and riding
through piceadilly and Brompton road to
Putness turned to the right through pretty
suburban villas, through Barnes common
to Sheen and the Bull tavern where horses
were changed, and the bar maids stood at
the open door inviting US to enter the
quaint old hostelry and quench our thirst
Here at Sheen lived Henry VII aud here
Queen Elizabeth died. The royal palace is
now occupied by the Duke and Duchess Of
Teck.
Within few minutes drive we entered
Richmond and reaching the bridge OBJ
tanned a fine view of Richmond hill with
the famous Star and Carter hotel snugly
ensconced in tho rich foliage. A stones
throw to the left il Twickenham and the
immortalized Twickenham ferry. Ted
dington station is soon passed and the
coach enters the cele brated Chestnut ave-
nue. of Bushey Park. This avenue is over
mile in length and the trees are some Of
the finest in the world, planted as they
were by Henry VIII early in the sixteenth
century. Just opposite tho gates is Hamp.
ton Court palace We crossed the river,
pulling up at the Surrey side at the Thames
hotel Kept by II. Tagg, in time to enjoy
capital luncheon. Hampton Conrt is the
largest and in many respects the finest of
all the royal palaces of England. 1t was
founded by Cardinal Wolsey in 1915 on the
threshold Of his great career and here he
dwelt in regal splendor for over fifteen
years. He finally turned it over to Henry
VIII and after his disgrace the king en-
tered into its possession and here no lived
with his several wives.
Our Baedecker says that Queen Mary
passed her honeymoon here. James 1
here settled the dispute between the Epis-
copalians and the Puritaus. Here Charles
the First was held a prisoner. Cromwell
resided here, and after the restoration
Charles ii arrived to spend his honeymoon
with Catherine Of Braganza. Queen
Anne came here often and In these
grounds took place the "Rape Of the
Lock" the subject OF Pope's famous
poem. The first George held court here
Though no longer royal residence Hamp.
ton Court, with its parks, grounds aud
contents, belongs to the sovereign. II
contains thousand rooms-and the state
apartments are wonderfully interesting
and entertaining. We entered by the
kings great staircase, the sides, walls and
ceiling of which are covered with paint
ings by Venio, executed by command of
Wolsey, then into "The Smoking Roomen
ard the kings guard chamber. Here
there are thousand pictures, worthless.
the old guard told US, as works OF art but
interesting on historical and other
grounds. In William IFS Presence cham.
6er hangs the old canopy Of state. Here
| the king gave audience TO ambassadors
and statesmen. The carving in the room
is by Grinling Gibbons, specially EN-.
poyed by the king to decorate the palace
The rose, harp, heur-de-lys and thistle
are everywhere. Under the mantel piece
noticed the fire back with the royal
arms and |. r., 6S7 on it. In room
called the Hampton Court beauties are
paintings Of inestimable value: William
III landing at Margate, James the Second,
Marquis Of Hamilton, family of Villiers
Duke of Buckingham, Charles II taking
leave of the Dutch states, and many
others.
In the second presence chamber are
famous paintings of Tlntore, to, Licinio and
Titan. The death Of Lucretia," by the
latter, excells anything in the palace. The
state bed room was designed by Sir Chris
topher Wren, the famous architect of ST.
Paul's. The ceiling is one Of Verrio's best
efforts. Between the windows is fine
old Pier glass, dating back to Wolsey's
time, and on the mantel is one Of Queen
Marys collections Of china. The Queens
gallery, with its wonderful tapestries, il
Illustrative of the life Of Alexander, con-
tains, as WELL the painting Of tine meet
ing Of Henry VIII and Francis / at the
Field of the Cloth Of Gold Ia 1920. It de-
plcts with marvellous accuracy every INCL
dent of this famous interview. In the com.
municatlon gallery we saw the nine pic.
tures of the triumph Of Julius Cesar, Man
tegna's greatest and richest work-.h,
glory Of hampton Court, and said to be one
OF the most precious artistic treasures OF
the English crown. They were begun in
l4s5, and remained in Mantua TIL 1928.
when they were secured for this palace.
~KK
Next beyond is the haunted gallery
supposed to be haunted by the shriekiup
ghost of Queen Caiharine Howard. Here
the guide says she escaped from her own
chamber and ran to seek an interview
with Henry VIII, who was hearing mass
in the royal closet in the chapel Just as
she reached the door the guards seized her
and carried her back. Her screams had
no effect on the king who continued his
devotions. And in this gallery female
form in white has been seen advancing to.
ward the door OF the royal pew and just
as she reaches it observed to hurry back,