of the
choir.

Towards the close of the year 1648 the ill-fated Charles was brought a
prisoner to Windsor, where he remained while preparations were made for
the execrable tragedy soon afterwards enacted. After the slaughter of
the martyr-monarch the castle became the prison of the Earl of Norwich,
Lord Capel, and the Duke of Hamilton, and other royalists and cavaliers.

Cromwell frequently resided within the castle, and often took a moody
and distrustful walk upon the terrace. It was during the Protectorate,
in 1677, that the ugly buildings appropriated to the naval knights, and
standing between the Garter Tower and Chancellor's Tower, were erected
by Sir Francis Crane.

IV.

Containing the History of the Castle from the Reign of
Charles the Second to that of George the Third--With a few
Particulars concerning the Parks and the Forest. Windsor
Castle.

ON the Restoration the castle resumed its splendour, and presented a
striking contrast to the previous gloomy period. The terrace, with its
festive groups, resembled a picture by Watteau, the courts resounded
with laughter, and the velvet sod of the home park was as often pressed
by the foot of frolic beauty as by that of the tripping deer.

Seventeen state apartments were erected by Sir Christopher Wren, under
the direction of Sir John Denham. The ceilings were painted by Verrio,
and the walls decorated with exquisite carvings by Grinling Gibbons. A
grand staircase was added at the same time. Most of the chambers were
hung with tapestry, and all adorned with pictures and costly furniture.
The addition made to the castle by Charles was the part of the north
front, then called the "Star Building," from the star of the Order of
the Garter worked in colours in the front of it, but now denominated the
"Stuart Building," extending eastward along the terrace from Henry the
Seventh's building one hundred and seventy feet. In 1676 the ditch was
filled up, and the terrace carried along the south and east fronts of
the castle.

Meanwhile the original character of the castle was completely destroyed
and Italianised. The beautiful and picturesque irregularities of the
walls were removed, the towers shaved off, the windows transformed into
commonplace circular-headed apertures. And so the castle remained for
more than a century.

Edward the Third's Tower, indifferently called the Earl Marshal's
Tower and the Devil Tower, and used as a place of co