I fancied, then, that no
modern architect could produce so fine a room; but oddly enough, in the
great entrance-hall of the Euston station, yesterday, I could not see how
this last fell very much short of Wolsey's Hall in grandeur. We were
quite wearied in passing through the endless suites of rooms in Hampton
Court, and gazing at the thousands of pictures; it is too much for one
day,--almost enough for one life, in such measure as life can be bestowed
on pictures. It would have refreshed us had we spent half the time in
wandering about the grounds, which, as we glimpsed at them from the
windows of the Palace, seemed very beautiful, though laid out with an
antique formality of straight lines and broad gravelled paths. Before
the central window there is a beautiful sheet of water, and a fountain
upshooting itself and plashing into it, with a continuous and pleasant
sound. How beautifully the royal robe of a monarchy is embroidered!
Palaces, pictures, parks! They do enrich life; and kings and
aristocracies cannot keep these things to themselves, they merely take
care of them for others. Even a king, with all the glory that can be
shed around him, is but the liveried and bedizened footman of his people,
and the toy of their delight. I am very glad that I came to this country
while the English are still playing with such a toy.
Yesterday J----- and I left Blackheath, and reached Liverpool last night.
The rest of my family will follow in a few days; and so finishes our
residence in Bennoch's house, where I, for my part, have spent some of
the happiest hours that I have known since we left our American home.
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