S NOBLE FRIEND

HAMPTON COURT.--THE LADY MARY'S VISION

WINDSOR CASTLE.--KING JAMES OF SCOTLAND AND THE LADY JANE BEAUFORT

THE JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO IRELAND.--THE
FISHERMAN'S RETURN

DUBLIN, HOWTH.--GRACE O'MALLEY

DONNYBROOK.--THE LITTLE FIDDLER.

FROM DUBLIN TO CORK AND BLARNEY CASTLE.--LITTLE NORAH
AND THE BLARNEY STONE

A VISIT TO THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY.--KATHLEEN OF KILLARNEY

LIMERICK.--LITTLE ANDY AND HIS GRANDFATHER

WICKLOW.--TIM O'DALY AND THE CLERICAUNE

ANTRIM--THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.--THE POOR SCHOOLMASTER

London Parks and Gardens

MABEL HOWARD AND HER PET.

After all, I think I had more real delight in the noble public parks
and gardens of London than in palaces and cathedrals They were all
wonders and novelties to me--for, to our misfortune and discredit,--we
have nothing of the kind in our country. To see the poor little public
squares in our towns and cities, where a few stunted trees seem huddled
together, as though scared by the great red-faced houses that crowd so
close upon them, one would think that we were sadly stinted and
straitened for land, instead of being loosely scattered over a vast
continent, many times larger than all Great Britain.

The English government, with all its faults, has always been wise and
generous toward the people in regard to their out-door comfort and
pleasure. It does not mean that they shall be stifled for want of air,
or cramped for room to exercise in. Everywhere over the kingdom, the
traveller sees shady parks, pleasant gardens, breezy downs, and wide
heaths, open to the public, and as much for the enjoyment of the poor
as the rich.

The great Hyde Park of London, has been the property of the crown since
the time of Henry VIII. It was formerly walled in, and held deer for
royal hunting--but in the reign of George IV. it was inclosed with an
open iron railing, and is now only used for drives, promenades, rides,
and military reviews.

Connected with Hyde Park, by a bridge over the Serpentine, an
artificial river, are Kensington Gardens, beautiful pleasure-grounds
attached to Kensington Palace, a building belonging to the royal family.

This palace was for several years the town residence of the widowed
Duchess of Kent, and here her illustrious daughter, the princess, now
Queen Victoria, was educated.

Strangers sometimes met the young princess walking in the gardens, or
saw her sitting under the shade of the trees, accompanied b