ivate park. Despite these evidences of neglect, the beauty of the
place was little impaired. There are some of the finest oak trees in
England and down by the lake are groups of magnificent cedars through
whose branches the bright water shimmered in the sunshine. As we circled
about the park, the distant views of the palace well bore out its
reputation of being one of the stateliest private homes in the Kingdom.
Our guide pointed out the spot where once stood the manor-house of
Woodstock, torn down about a hundred years ago. In this house Princess
Elizabeth was held a prisoner for a time by her sister, Queen Mary, but
it is best known from the story of Walter Scott, who located here the
principal scenes of "Woodstock."

The town of Woodstock has a long line of traditions, but shows little
evidence of modern progress. It is a quiet, old-world little place with
clean streets and many fine trees. Tradition asserts that the father of
English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer, was born here and the old house,
alleged to be his birthplace, still stands in Park Street. However, the
poet himself declares that London was his native city and the confiding
tourist is left with the necessity of balancing the poet's own assertion
on this important point against that of the Woodstock guide books. In
any event, Chaucer certainly lived in Woodstock--very likely in the
house assigned to him today. The town was also a residence of the Saxon
kings, and here are many legends of Henry II and Fair Rosamond. Perhaps
its most distinguished resident, however, was Oliver Cromwell, who put
up at an inn, now a private house, while his army battered down the old
palace as described by Scott.

We returned from Woodstock to Oxford and from there directed our course
to Wantage, the birthplace of King Alfred the Great and, I might
incidentally remark, at that time the residence of a well known
expatriated New York City politician. This latter distinction did not
occur to us until after we had left the town, and therefore we failed to
make inquiries as to how this gentleman was regarded by his
fellow-citizens of Oxfordshire. In this connection, soon afterwards I
saw an amusing report in the newspapers stating that a libel suit had
been brought against a British magazine for having published an article
in which the ex-boss was spoken of in an uncomplimentary manner. The
report stated that the case had been settled, the magazine editor paying
the legal costs and