untouched, and in one of them the apartment
occupied by the queen on this visit is still pointed out to the
stranger. She was here sumptuously entertained by William lord Cobham, a
nobleman who enjoyed a considerable share of her favor, and who, after
acquitting himself to her satisfaction in an embassy to the
Low-Countries, was rewarded with the garter and the place of a
privy-councillor. He was however a person of no conspicuous ability, and
his wealth and his loyalty appear to have been his principal titles of
merit.

Eltham was her next stage; an ancient palace frequently commemorated in
the history of our early kings as the scene of rude magnificence and
boundless hospitality. In 1270 Henry III. kept a grand Christmas at
Ealdham palace,--so it was then called. A son of Edward II. was named
John of Eltham, from its being the place of his birth.

Edward III. twice held his parliament in its capacious hall. It was
repaired at great cost by Edward IV., who made it a frequent place of
residence; but Henry VIII. began to neglect it for Greenwich, and
Elizabeth was the last sovereign by whom it was visited.

Its hall, 100 feet in length, with a beautifully carved roof resembling
that of Westminster-hall and windows adorned with all the elegance of
gothic tracery, is still in being, and admirably serves the purposes of
a barn and granary.

Elizabeth soon quitted this seat of antique grandeur to contemplate the
gay magnificence of Nonsuch, regarded as the triumph of her father's
taste and the masterpiece of all the decorative arts. This stately
edifice, of which not a vestige now remains, was situated near Ewel in
Surry, and commanded from its lofty turrets extensive views of the
surrounding country.

It was built round two courts, an outer and an inner one, both very
spacious; and the entrance to each was by a square gatehouse highly
ornamented, embattled, and having turrets at the four corners. These
gatehouses were of stone, as was the lower story of the palace itself;
but the upper one was of wood, "richly adorned and set forth and
garnished with variety of statues, pictures, and other antic forms of
excellent art and workmanship, and of no small cost:" all which
ornaments, it seems, were made of _rye dough_. In modern language the
"pictures" would probably be called basso-relievos. From the eastern and
western angles of the inner court rose two slender turrets five stories
high, with lanthorns on the top, which