he "Color Court," has a carved
and painted ceiling of 1540. Madame d'Arblay describes the pertinacity of
George III. in attending service here in bitter November weather, when the
queen and court at length left the king, his chaplain, and equerry "to
freeze it out together."...
When Queen Caroline (wife of George II.) asked Mr. Whiston what fault
people had to find with her conduct, he replied that the fault they most
complained of was her habit of talking in chapel. She promised amendment,
but proceeding to ask what other faults were objected to her, he replied,
"When your Majesty has amended this I'll tell you of the next."
It was in this chapel that the colors taken from James II. at the Battle
of the Boyne were hung up by his daughter Mary, an unnatural exhibition of
triumph which shocked the Londoners. Besides that of Queen Anne, a number
of royal marriages have been solemnized here; those of the daughters of
George II., of Frederick Prince of Wales to Augusta of Saxe Cobourg, of
George IV. to Caroline of Brunswick, and of Queen Victoria to Prince
Albert.
The Garden at the back of St. James's Palace has a private entrance to the
Park. It was as he was alighting from his carriage here, August 2, 1786,
that George III. was attacked with a knife by the insane Margaret
Nicholson. "The bystanders were proceeding to wreak summary vengeance on
the (would-be) assassin, when the King generously interfered in her
behalf. 'The poor creature,' he exclaimed, 'is mad: do not hurt her; she
has not hurt me.' He then stept forward and showed himself to the
populace, assuring them that he was safe and uninjured."
LITERARY SHRINES OF LONDON [Footnote: From "Shakespeare's England." By
arrangement with the publishers, Moffat, Yard & Co. Copyright by William
Winter, 1878-1910.]
BY WILLIAM WINTER
The mind that can reverence historic associations needs no explanation of
the charm that such associations possess. There are streets and houses in
London which, for pilgrims of this class, are haunted with memories and
hallowed with an imperishable light that not even the dreary commonness of
everyday life can quench or dim. Almost every great author in English
literature has here left some personal trace, some relic that brings you
at once into his living presence. In the time of Shakespeare,--of whom it
should be noted that, wherever found, he is found in elegant
neighborhoods,--Aldersgate was a secluded, peaceful quarter of
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