The Queen's Gallery, eighty feet in length, contains an extensive collection of curious portraits. The Elizabethan group, representing Her Majesty at different periods of her life, first engages the attention. It consists of portraits of Elizabeth when an infant; at twelve years of age; in the meridian of life; and in her latter days. There is also a full-length of the Queen, attired in a fantastic Persian dress, and represented as in a forest. This room contains several Scripture pieces; but by far the greater number of the collection are portraits of eminent persons. Mary, Queen of Scots; Lord Darnley; James the First and Second; Queen Mary; Anne, of Denmark; Francis I., of France; Erasmus; and the "admirable Crichton," are among the most conspicuous. Passing through several small rooms we enter the Cartoon Gallery, in which are displayed those treasured triumphs of the genius of Raffaelle, the "prince of painters." The drawings were originally intended as patterns for tapestry to decorate the walls of the Papal chapel, and were executed by order of Leo X. During the production of the tapestry at Arras, the Cartoons were exposed to no small danger from the recklessness of the artisaus, who for their own convenience cut them up into small slips. It is somewhat singular that they remained in this state for an entire century, although the tapes

tries which were woven from them were held in high admiration, and it was left for Rubens to rescue them from oblivion. Having directed the attention of Charles I. to their ruinous condition, his Majesty purchased the seven now in Hampton Court, intending to have tapestries woven from them. They were, however, neglected and comparatively unknown, until William III. directed the slips to be joined together, and erected the present spacious gallery for these unequalled works of art. They consist entirely of scenes in Scripture history.

Among other historical events connected with this edifice, we might mention the following:-Edward VI. was born here. In 1543, the nuptial ceremonies of Henry VIII. and his last wife, Lady Catherine Parr, were celebrated at this Palace. The Protector Somerset, Queen Mary and Philip, Queen Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., Cromwell, James II., William and Mary, William III., and George II. and his Queen, at different times have resided at Hampton Court.

The superb arcades and gardens of Hampton Court somewhat resemble those of St. Cloud. Their broad avenues, crystal fountains, rich parterres, and majestic trees, combine together with the richest effect. We have not yet forgot the luscious grapes, the largest in Europe, which hang

in such thick clusters from the celebrated Hamburgh vine, and which are reserved for the delicate palate of royalty. Garrick's Villa stands on the margin of the Thames, in close proximity. There are other spots of interest worthy of enumeration, but we shall simply name them:-Claremont, which owed its origin to the eccentric Sir John Vanbrugh; Esher, noted for its Wolsey's Tower; Walton, a spot interesting alike to the antiquary and the lover of the picturesque; and Chertsey, the birth-place of Cowley, the poet. Beautiful also is Bushy Park, with its magnificent chesnut avenue, a mile long, one of the noblest sights to be seen around London.

Of the numerous objects of interest with which the banks of the Thames are so thickly studded, none are of such surpassing grandeur and regal magnificence as Windsor Castle, with its adjacent chapel of St. George, and Eton College. This massive and stately pile is richly stored with poetic associations, and venerable for its antiquity, it having proudly defied the ravages of Time for some eight centuries. Here kings were born; here they kept royal state amid the blaze of fashion and luxurious indulgence; and here, in the adjoining mausoleum, they were buried. Here deeds of chivelry and high renown, that shine on us from

ancient days, were enacted; and it is here the most exemplary of England's monarchs still prefers to hold her suburban residence. This brave old fortress, unlike the Tower of London, with its dark records of crime, is rife with pleasant memories. Not only is the edifice itself, with its gigantic towers, its broad bastions, and its kingly halls, sacred with incident and story, but Shakespeare has also rendered classical the very ground on which it stands.

Windsor Forest, with its magnificent old oaks, and its richly variegated scenery, of "upland, lawn, and stream," has afforded a fruitful theme for the pens of Gray and the author of "The Seasons;" and Pope, it will be remembered, has felicitously pictured forth its changeful beauties. As far back as the days of the Saxons we have records of a palatial residence at Old Windsor, or as its name then was, Windleshora, so called from the windings of the Thames in its vicinity. William the Norman built some portions of the Castle, which, until the time of Richard I., seems ever to have been the peaceful abode of royalty. During the civil wars, of which Windsor was a principal scene, the Castle became the most important military establishment in the kingdom. The sanguinary struggles connected with the signing of Magna