WINDSOR WINE. 



73 



in England seem generally to have been composed 

 of paper, which, properly prepared with oil, forms 

 no contemptible defence against the intrusions of 

 the weather, and is a tolerable medium for the ad- 

 mission of light. In warm climates, as in the West 

 Indies, windows are often quite open, without 

 glass or any translucent medium to admit light 

 while it excludes the air. In Russia, salt is used 

 to clean windows from frost, on account of its effect 

 in liquefying this substance. It is rubbed on the 

 glass with a sponge. In England, windows are one 

 of the articles subjected to taxation 



WINDSOR, OR NEW WINDSOR; a town in 

 Berkshire, England, situated on the right bank of 

 the Thames, which separates it from Buckingham- 

 shire, twenty-two miles west of London. It is 

 beautifully situated on the side of a hill, and has 

 many handsome buildings; but its chief ornament is 

 its castle, which it owes to William the Conqueror. 

 (See the next article.) On the south side of the 

 town is Windsor Great Park, well stocked with 

 deer, in which is situated the cottage of George IV. 

 It was formerly fourteen miles in circuit, but has 

 lately been much enlarged. The gardens are 

 spacious and elegant. Windsor forest, fifty-six 

 miles in circuit, was originally formed for the ex- 

 ercise of the chase, a favourite amusement of many 

 of the English sovereigns. Windsor sends two 

 members to parliament. Population in 1841, 7786. 

 Old Windsor is the name of a village two miles 

 from New Windsor. 



WINDSOR CASTLE was originally built by 

 William the Conqueror, in the eleventh century, 

 and has been the favourite country residence of the 

 English kings for upwards of 700 years. It stands 

 on a high hill, and commands a beautiful view of 

 the Thames and the surrounding counties. Edward 

 III. rebuilt the old castle, and added St George's 

 chapel ; and numerous changes were made by suc- 

 ceeding sovereigns, particularly by Charles II. In 

 1824, the dilapidated condition of the castle attract- 

 ed the attention of parliament, and a grant of 

 300,000 was made for restoring it. Further 

 grants, amounting in all to about 800,000, have 

 since been required, and the whole appearance of 

 the building has been much improved by increasing 

 the height of the walls, inserting larger windows, 

 &c. The castle is divided into two wards, the 

 Upper and the Lower, with a round tower between 

 them, called the Middle ward ; the whole covering 

 about twelve acres, and forming a hollow square, 

 three of the outer sides of which are surrounded by 

 a magnificent terrace. The inner court is a con- 

 nected building of three sides, the fourth being 

 formed by the Round tower, or keep The Lower 

 ward contains the ecclesiastical portions of the edi- 

 fice, including St George's chapel. The Upper 

 ward is formed by the round tower on the west, 

 the state apartments, including St George's hall, 

 on the north, and a range of domestic apartments 

 on the east and north, communicating with the 

 state apartments. The royal apartments on the 

 north side of the upper court are termed the Star- 

 building, from a star and garter in the middle of 

 the structure. Amongst those shown to the public 

 are the king and queen's guard-chambers, contain- 

 ing a fine armoury ; the queen's presence-chamber, 

 hung with tapestry representing the decapitation of 

 St Paul ; the ball-room, with tapestry depicting 

 the months of the year; the queen's bed-chamber, 

 in which is a state bed ; the beauty-room, so called 

 from the portraits of Charles II. "s beauties, with 



which it is decorated ; the king's dining-room ; the 

 king's audience-chamber, embellished with paintings 

 by West ; the king's or St George's chapel, adorned 

 with paintings by Verrio, and carving by Gibbon ; 

 and St George's hall, appropriated to the order of 

 the garter, and containing a representation of the 

 triumph of the Black Prince. St George's chapel, 

 or the collegiate church of Windsor, is the largest 

 and most elegant of the three royal chapels in Eng- 

 land. It was founded by Edward III. but much 

 improved by Edward IV., and afterwards by Henry 

 VII. The interior is built in the form of an ellip- 

 sis, and the roof is supported by lofty pillars. On 

 each side of the choir are the stalls of the sovereign 

 and knights of the order of the garter, with their 

 arms, banners, &c. ; and in the vaults beneath are 

 interred Henry VI., Edward IV., Henry VIII., his 

 queen Jane Seymour, Charles I., and a daughter of 

 queen Anne. At the east end of St George's chapel is 

 a royal mausoleum, formerly called Wolsey's tomb- 

 house, from that cardinal having begun a sumptuous 

 monument here for himself. The monument was 

 left unfinished, and the building fell to decay, till 

 George III. formed it into a mausoleum. The re- 

 mains of George III. and his wife, of his sons, 

 George IV., William IV., the duke of York and 

 the duke of Kent, and of the princess Charlotte, 

 with her infant son, are deposited here. Among 

 the recent improvements before alluded to, are the 

 new gateway, called George the Fourth's, consist- 

 ing of two towers, York and Lancaster, 100 feet 

 high ; the Octagon tower, which is higher than any 

 other part of the building, being 120 feet above the 

 level of the terrace ; a fine gallery, connecting the 

 Octagon tower with the Star-building, c. 



WINDSOR, the capital of Hants county, Nova 

 Scotia, is situated on the Avon and the St Croix, 

 just above their junction, forty-five miles north of 

 Halifax. After the Avon receives the St Croix, it 

 spreads into a wide frith, and afterwards flows into 

 the basin of Minas. The rise of the Avon at 

 Windsor is twenty feet at neap tides, and thirty at 

 spring tides. The river at low water is only a 

 brook. Windsor has a fine situation, and contains 

 some of the best land in the province. Its princi- 

 pal commercial business arises from its gypsum. 

 This is carried, in great quantities, to St John's, in 

 New Brunswick, to be shipped thence to the United 

 States. In 1828, Windsor contained a university, 

 an academy, a court-house, a jail, and houses of 

 worship for Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Metho- 

 dists, Presbyterians and Baptists ; and 2065 inha- 

 bitants. 



WINDSOR; a post-town of Windsor count), 

 Vermont, situated on the west bank of the Con- 

 necticut, eighteen miles south of Dartmouth college. 

 Population in 1820, 2956 ; in 1830, 3134. 



WINDWARD ISLANDS ; one of the divisions 

 of the Caribbean islands, so called in opposition to 

 another division of the same, called the Leeward 

 islands. The Windward islands are Martinique, 

 St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Barbadoes and To- 

 bago. The name is, however, differently applied 

 by different writers. 



WINDWARD PASSAGE ; a name given to a 

 course from the south-east angle of the island of 

 Jamaica, extending 160 leagues, to the north side 

 of Crooked island, in the Bahamas. 



WINE ; liquor that has become spirituous by 

 fermentation. The invention of wine is involved 

 in the obscurity of fable ; but it must be referred 

 to very remote times. The first portion of the 



