SL Georges Chapel. 83 



but which providentially left him at the critical mo- 

 ment. 



Windsor, seen from any direction at a distance, is 

 par excellence the castle — a truly royal residence ; but, 

 seen closely, it loses the grand and sinks into something 

 of prettiness. It is no longer commanding, and is in- 

 significant in comparison with the true castles of the 

 North, the surroundings of which are in keeping with 

 the idea of a stronghold, and take you at once to the 

 times of the chieftain and his armed men. There is noth- 

 ing of this at Windsor, and the glamour disappears when 

 you begin to analyze. Royalty's famous abode should 

 be looked at, as royalty itself should be — at a safe dis- 

 tance. 



Service at St. George's Chapel will not soon be for- 

 gotten by our party. The stalls of the Knights of the 

 Garter, over the canopies of which hang their swords 

 and mantles surmounted by their crests and armorial 

 bearings, carry one far back into the days of chivalry. 

 One stall arrested and held my attention — that of the 

 Earl of Beaconsfield. When I was not gazing at Glad- 

 stone's face, I was moralizing upon the last Knight of 

 the Garter, whose flag still floats above the stall. Dis- 

 raeli won the blue ribbon about as worthily as most men, 

 and by much the same means — he flattered the monarch. 

 But there is this to be said of him : he had brains and 

 made himself. 



What a commentary upon pride of birth, the flag of 



