the
walls are huge paintings by Sir James Thornhill, one representing the
great duke, in a blue cuirass, kneeling before Britannia, clad in white
and holding a lance and wreath; Hercules and Mars stand by, and there
are emblem-bearing females and the usual paraphernalia. We are told that
Thornhill was paid for these at the rate of about six dollars per square
yard. The duchess Sarah also poses in the collection as Minerva, wearing
a yellow classic breastplate. Among other relics kept in the palace are
Oliver Cromwell's teapot, another teapot presented by the Duc de
Richelieu to Louis XIV., two bottles that belonged to Queen Anne, and
some Roman and Grecian pottery. The great hall, which has the battle of
Blenheim depicted on its ceiling, extends the entire height of the
building; the library is one hundred and eighty-three feet long; and in
the chapel, beneath a pompous marble monument, rest the great duke and
his proud duchess Sarah, and their two sons, who died in early years.
The pleasure-gardens extend over three hundred acres along the borders
of the lake and river, and are very attractive. They contain the Temple
of Health erected on the recovery of George III. from his illness, an
aviary, a cascade elaborately constructed of large masses of rock, a
fountain copied after one in Rome, and a temple of Diana. This great
estate was the reward of the soldier whose glories were sung by Addison
in his poem on the _Campaign_. Addison then lived in a garret up three
pair of stairs over a small shop in the Haymarket, London, whither went
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to get him to write the poem, and
afterwards gave him a place worth $1000 a year as a reward. The
Marlboroughs since have been almost too poor to keep up this magnificent
estate in its proper style, for the family of Spencer-Churchill, which
now holds the title, unlike most of the other great English houses, has
not been blessed with a princely private fortune. Not far from Woodstock
is Minster Lovel, near the village of Whitney. Some fragments of the
house remain, and it has its tale of interest, like all these old
houses. Lord Lovel was one of the supporters of the impostor Simnel
against Henry VII., and his rebellion being defeated in the decisive
battle at Stoke in Nottinghamshire, Lord Lovel escaped by unfrequented
roads and arrived home at night. He was so disguised that he was only
known by a single servant, on whose fidelity he could rely. Before
daybr