ance. A fine portrait, on panel, of Henry VI. is over the fire-place in the centre division, and above the vestibules leading from the gallery staircase is a small marble bust of the same monarch.

Among the literary curiosities of this collection, a Chinese map of the city of Pekin, some Egyptian manuscripts written on papyrus, several beautifully illuminated missals, and an extensive collection of oriental manuscripts, arc deserving particular notice; the latter valuable record of Eastern lore comprised 550 volumes, the arduous labours of Mr. Pote while residing at Patna, who devoted several years to its formation, and presented half of them to King's College, Cambridge, and half to the present library. The printed works comprise an almost invaluable collection of ancient and modern classics, among which are editions of Horace, Terence, and Virgil, printed in the latter part of the fifteenth century, every page being illuminated with curious wood-cuts; Rymer's Foedera, 18 vols., from the press of the celebrated Jacob Tonson; Stow's Survey, first edition; a Refutation of the Koran, printed at Pavia, in 1689, under the authority of Pope Innocent XI.; and nearly all the sacred and profane authors and early English writers. In the vestibule leading to the library are two curious maps on canvas, one portraying the arms of all the cities and borough towns of England and Wales, with a brief account of their foundation and remarkable circumstances connected with them; and the other giving a similar history of the bishoprics, with the armorial bearings of their respective dioceses. An ancient view of the College, paintings of Trinity and King's Colleges, Cambridge, and several other pictures, likewise decorate this entrance hall. The Rev. Mr. Hetherington, one of the fellows of the college, left £500. to be expended in the purchase of any important work in which the library was deficient; and George III. directed that a copy of the Statutes at large should be presented to the library at the end of every session of parliament.

In the apartments appropriated to the provost are portraits of several individuals who have filled that distinguished situation, a fine view of Venice, and half-lengths of Queen Elizabeth and Sir Robert Walpole. There is also a portrait, on panel, said to be that of Jane Shore, on the authority of a tradition that a provost of Eton College was her confessor, and that this painting was taken by his direction; the hair is auburn, and the forehead large, but the face has not that claim to beauty it is so generally imagined to have possessed.

A small postern gate, luxuriantly mantled with ivy, forms an opening from the cloisters into the Playing Fields, an extensive tract of ground, shaded by several lofty trees, and bounded on one side by the Thames. The young gentlemen educated here are greatly attached to aquatic amusements, and twice during the summer (on the 4th of June, in commemoration of the birth-day of

George III., and on the last Saturday in July, when the senior scholars are elected to King's College, Cambridge,) splendid regattas take place. On these occasions they go in procession, habited in fancy dresses, in several long boats ornamented with flags, and accompanied with music, to a meadow opposite Surley-hall, about three miles up the river, where a cold collation is provided; and on their return, a brilliant display of fireworks is exhibited on an eyot a short distance above Windsor Bridge. This spectacle has been frequently graced with the presence of several members of the royal family, and annually attracts a considerable number of distinguished visitors.

Independent of the improvements in the chapel, very extensive additions and alterations are about to be made in the college, by the erection of dormitories and other rooms for the comfort and convenience of the collegers; the plans and elevations for which have been approved of, and are now lying in the college library. Several old dilapidated houses have been purchased from the Crown, in order to be pulled down and give room for several splendid buildings. The road from Barnspool Bridge has been considerably widened, and the old ditch and inundated road in front of the buildings leading from the bridge to the south entrance of the college hall have been arched over and levelled, and a broad terrace walk, commanding a pleasing view of the Castle, now ornaments this part of the college property. These improvements, exclusive of those in the chapel, are estimated at a cost of upwards of £25,000.

The first stone of these new buildings was laid on the 20th June, / 1844, by His Royal Highness Prince Albert. The buildings, which are to be in the Elizabethan style, will be erected on the site of the washhouses and stables of the provost and fellows, and will be immediately contiguous to the Provost's Lodge. The front will be upwards of 120 feet in length.

"Ye distant spires, ye antique towers,
That crown the watery glade,
Where grateful Science still adores
Her Henry's holy shade;

And ye, that from the stately brow

Of Windsor's heights th' expanse below

Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey,

Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among
Wanders the hoary Thames along

His silver winding way."

CHAP. IV.

THE PARKS AND LODGES.

THE LITTLE PARK.

THIS Park, from its immediate vicinity to the Castle, claims our first notice. It is about four miles in circumference, extending on the north and east sides of the castle to the banks of the Thames, and was enclosed by a brick wall in the reign of William III. It contains about five hundred acres, many parts of which are beautifully studded with clumps of forest trees, while several avenues of elm, planted in the reign of Queen Anne, afford shady promenades. George III. was frequently accustomed to take the diversion of coursing in this park, which abounds with hares, but the sport has latterly been discontinued. The ground forming the declivity of the hill on the north terrace of the castle was enclosed in the reign of George III. and converted into an extensive shrubbery, the walks of which are planted with a variety of shrubs interspersed with parterres of flowers, and sheltered by plantations of forest trees. This portion of the park is termed from its situation "The Slopes," and communicates with the North Terrace. The public were admitted to it, under certain regulations, till 1823, when George IV. taking up his residenec at the castle, this indulgence was withheld. Pleasure grounds, about eighteen acres in extent, have been recently formed adjoining the Slopes, and several trees at the summit of the hill removed, to afford a view from the north terrace.

ADELAIDE LODGE.

At the termination of the Slopes, near the footpath leading from Windsor to Datchet, is the elegant and picturesque cottage called Adelaide Lodge it consists of only two rooms, besides a retiring room and the page's residence. The interior is fitted up with the furniture and decorations from the Royal Lodge. Its locality affords a delightful shade at all hours of the day. This rural retreat was completed under the superintendence of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager. At a short distance from Adelaide Lodge, a very pretty cottage in the Gothic style, has been erected, as a residence for the keeper, at the back of which are kennels, constructed for the fancy dogs of Her Majesty and H.R.H. Prince Albert.

THE QUEEN'S POULTRY HOUSES.

These elegant buildings, with their unique collection of fowls, are situated at the Home Farm, sheltered by stately clumps of elm trees,

on the south-east side of the park. The fowl-house, designed and built by Messrs. Bedborough and Jenner, of Windsor, is a semigothic building of simple and appropriate beauty; it consists of a central pavilion, used for inspecting the fowls, crowned on the top by an elegant dove-cot, with wings on the sides capable of symmetric extension, in which are the roosting houses and nests. The ground in front slopes towards the park, and is inclosed and divided by light wire fences into wards for the "run" or exercise of the birds. Inside these wards, gravel walks, bordered by grass plats, lead to the entrances. In the arrangements considerable regard to the habits of their gramnivorous tenants has been displayed, and their nests are made as far as possible to resemble the bramble covered recesses of their original haunts. The dove-cot, beyond the beauty of its form and situation, is only remarkable for its linings of looking-glass.

Her Majesty's collection of fowls is very considerable, occupying half a dozen very extensive yards, several small fields, and numerous feeding houses, laving sheds, hospitals, winter courts, &c.; and the Commissioners of Woods and Forests have considerable additions in progress. An Apiary is also at this Farm.

HERNE'S OAK.

Shakspere, in his "Merry Wives of Windsor," has converted, with his usual brilliant genius, a tradition respecting a tree in the park, current among the peasntry at his time, into one of his happiest dramatic incidents :

"There is an old tale goes that Herne the hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter time, at still midnight,

Walk round about an oak, with great ragged horns,
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,

And makes milch kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.

Marry, this is our device;

That Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us,

Disguised like Herne, with huge horns on his head."

Herne is said to have been one of the forest keepers in the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and having committed some offence that would have occasioned his dismissal from office, he took the desperate resolution to hang himself upon this tree. A withered oak, enclosed with railings, near the present footway to Datchet, on the south-east side of the park, is still designated "Herne's oak ;" its identity, however, is not clearly proved, and except its situation and the nature of the ground near it, no evidence can be adduced to support its claim to that title.

Divided by the London road from the Little Park is Frogmore, the residence of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. This estate was an ancient demesne of the Crown, and was sold during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I. Shortly after the Restoration it reverted to the possession of royalty, and in 1792 was held upon lease by the Hon. Mrs. Egerton, from whom it was purchased by Queen Charlotte, and the present elegant retreat constructed; after the decease of that Queen, it became, by bequest, the property of the Princess Augusta, who, until her death, in 1840, had almost constantly resided there. The entrance from the high road is by a semi-circular drive, planted with shrubs, on the west side of which are the stables, the clock-house, and domestic offices; a vestibule and hall communicate with the grand suite of apartments.

The gardens comprise about thirteen acres, and are laid out in the most skilful manner; they are diversified by a succession of lawns, flower parterres, and walks planted with a variety of curious shrubs, while, in many parts of the grounds, several ornamental buildings, give an additional effect to the natural beauty of the place. A marine grotto, fitted up in one of the flower gardens with considerable taste, and a fine piece of water, forming a lake in front of the principal apartments, winds among the plantations, and materially contributes to the beauty of many of the views. A gothic ruin, facing the lake, erected from a design of Mr. Wyatt, contains an apartment fitted up as an oratory; the chairs are elaborately carved in ebony, and the room is ornamented with a copy of the Descent