han his allotted span of years, and before he could
do more than put his imagination upon paper, and realize but a fragment
of it in stone, he was called away from a world dependent on the "work
of men's hands."

The fragment he has left us still stands; it was to be the
banqueting-hall, but no Royal banquets were held there; it was used as a
Chapel Royal for many years, and is now the home of the United Service
Museum. For the magnificent ceiling painted by Rubens we are indebted to
Charles I., who also designed to have the walls painted by Vandyck, a
still more costly operation, which was never carried out. The
weathercock on the north end was put up by order of James II., so that
he might see whether the wind was for or against the dreaded Dutch
fleet. The building has one association never to be forgotten. On that
black day when England shamed herself before the nations by spilling the
blood of her King, the scaffold was erected before this building, though
the exact site is unknown. It is believed that the window second from
the north end is that in front of which it stood, and that the King
stepped forth from a window in a small outbuilding on the north side; he
came forth to die, the only innocent man in all that great crowd, who
watched him suffer without raising a finger to save him. At that time
the present windows were not glazed, but walled in. William III. talked
of rebuilding the palace, but he died too soon. Queen Anne went to St.
James's, and Whitehall was never rebuilt.

* * * * *

The Horse Guards is almost directly opposite the Banqueting House, and
stands on the site of an old house for the Gentlemen Pensioners who
formed the guard when there was not a standing army in England. This
itself superseded the tilt-yard built by King Henry VIII., though the
actual yard was the wide space at the back of the building, which still
witnesses the trooping of the colours and other ceremonies on state
occasions. It is interesting to notice that the words "Tilt-yard Guards"
still occur in the regulations hung up inside the sentry-boxes where the
magnificent sentries keep guard, to the wonder and admiration of every
small boy who passes.

The whole of St. James's Park is now included in the City of
Westminster, but only the south-east part is in the parish of St.
Margaret's, which we are now considering. The remainder will be found
described in the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fi