The National tribune., 1899-02-23
WINDSOR CASTLE.
Where the Beauties of Nature
In England May Be En-
joyed-The Queens Cut-of-
Town House.

We went out to Windsor Castle one day,
not especially TO see the castle, but rather 10
get out of Lonlon's smoke and dim streets
and into sunshine again Doing the
castle was only an excuse that we CLEANED
from orr guide-books to suit our Impulse
England fields and hedge rows as we saw
a glimpse of them, that day, were all the
delight that we always read about in The
stories and poems of men and women who
have been inspired by the loveliness OF her
hills and skies her flowers and grass, TO
words of beauty But it all seemed quite
like home 1t was like stretches of our own
comfolt table land A month afterwards we
were hurrving from New York TO Washing
ton. and the sight of our farm-houses and
little villages was no less lovely that we
had lately looked upon those of England
The stretch of English country that we
saw was perhaps cozier than ours. There
were no gaps nor wide wild places; no fields
full of stumps left 10 their own unlovellness,
as often with US. The houses and barns
looked a little more part of the face OF the
earth: they have had more years in which 10
settle down in comfortable positions and the
roofs looked as though they were comfortably
placed and at home. The great old trees
had pushed places for themselves against the
house walls, or had turned aside path or
hedge from the straight line and everything
seemed well-rooted and centuries comfortable.
The entrance TO the town that gathers
about the foot of the castle walls, and lies
near the little river Thames, looked as
careless and new and as much of a make
shift as could any mushroom town of our
West The English railway stations, plat
forms and waiting rooms are wide, clean,
handsomely built and finished, and con-
veniently arranged; but we stepped from the
railway platform into n little crooked street,
filed with mortar, bricks and beams, for the
erection of some two-story, six-room, brick
and tin establishment, and if the Queen
comes TO her castle, it crowds her carriage
too: turn brought us into a wider space, a
street whose one side was the castle wall, the
other a row of eating houses, groceries and
souvenir shops.
After few minutes walk along this place,
with hack-driyers hanging by the dozen TO
ones elbow, we came upon Jubilee statue
of her Majesty, stout, crowned lady, with
rather widely-distended skirts, which gave
the figure, when distance blurs it somewhat,
the outlines of a symmetrical cone, and moth
ing more, which stands at the entrance to
the castle.
When the Queen is not ut Windsor on
certain days the castle is opened freely, and
the scarlet-coated sentries, in their fierce bear
skin hats, never frown on the peering, blum
dering, laughing, scolding, criticizing mob
that streams in the gates There are Eng
lish families On loyal admiration tours, un-
comprehending German tourists, facetious
Americans, and two of London's frowzy-
headed, white-shod, slangy girls, and Eng
lish boys and girls everywhere. That day
there was party of young men and women
from Cleveland. o., who, just for the fun OF
the thing, were comparing everything in sight