Whatelifs Observations 07i Windsor Castle. 145 



chnrclies and gentlemen's seats are everywhere intermixed 

 with the fields and the trees. Every spot seems improved, but 

 improved for the purposes of pleasure; all are rural; none 

 are solitary : and the amenity of the plain is at the same time 

 contrasted with the rich woods in the Great Park, their height, 

 their shade, and their verdure. 



The prospect is the more interesting as all the environs of 

 Windsor are classic ground. The forest prompted the first 

 essays of Mr. Pope's muse ; and Sir John Denham owes all 

 his fame to his poem on Cooper's Hill. That beautiful 

 eminence overlooks Runnemede, a place illustrious in our 

 history. Behind it is Chertsey, the retreat of Cowley; 

 before it Horton, the residence of Milton ; and directly in 

 front of the castle is Stoke churchyard, which Mr. Gray 

 chose for the scene of his Elegy and the place of his burial. 



The castle itself and its appendages abound with monu- 

 ments of antiquity and of genius. The remains of chivalry 

 everywhere occur in this seat of the Order of the Garter ; and 

 the rude achievements of Edward III., his family, and his 

 peers, are proper decorations for the hall of his knights. The 

 pride of Wolsey still appears in the chapel which he intended 

 for his obsequies, and which might be the mausoleum of a 

 race of kings with propriety. The terrace was built by 

 Elizabeth ; was the resort of her warriors and statesmen ; and 

 is a work worthy of her reign. Here Shakspeare laid the 

 scene of his comedy, when the queen dictated the subject; 

 and Datchet Mead still retains its name; and the sawpit, 

 where the fairies lurked, may be traced ; and the oak of 

 Heme the Hunter is standing. The poets of later days have 

 always haunted the spot, and have celebrated the delights of 

 Windsor as refinements on the pleasures of Charles II. 's 

 dissipated court, and the majesty of the seat as reflecting 

 lustre on the trophies of Queen Anne's triumphant reign. 



The grandeur of this regal residence is further enhanced 

 by the establishments which depend upon it. The Order of 

 the Garter owes its preeminence less to its antiquity, than to 

 the purity observed in the dispensation of its honours ; and 

 the benevolent provision made for the poor knights is no dis- 

 grace to the institution. A sumptuous collegiate church, with 

 accommodations for all its dignitaries, is within the walls of 

 the castle ; and the noble seminary of education at Eton seems 

 not to be unconnected with the palace : it is a royal found- 

 ation, and it is, at the same time, the most beautiful and the 

 most interesting object of the prospect. 



The vast dimensions, also, and the style of the building, 

 which, however deficient in some points of elegance and pro- 



VoL.VIL — No.Sl. L 



