This majestic edifice is divided into two courts, called the Upper and Lower Wards, between which is the Round Tower, or Keep. The Lower Ward, which is by far the more spacious of the two, comprises the following buildings: on the South and West sides are the houses of what were formerly called the Poor Knights, but by the good taste of William the Fourth, are now named the Military Knights' Houses. At the eastern extremity of the South side, is the Ivy, or Store Tower. On the North side are, St. George's Chapel, the royal Tomb-house, the Deanery, and Winchester Tower. In this court are also Salisbury Tower, belonging to the Bishop of Salisbury as Chancellor of the Order of the Garteri Henry the Eighth's Gateway, forming the principal entrance from the town; and Garter, a small tower on the front, belonging to the Garter King-at-Arms. In addition to these, though not forming an immediate part of the court itself, are great cloisters at the back of St. George's Chapel, which contain the houses of the canons; the lesser cloisters at the west end of the chapel, in which are the residences of the minor canons and other officers of the college; and Julius Casar's Tower, an old circular fortification which overhangs the high street of the town, and which contains a beautiful and interesting vaulted Crypt, having a groined roof of admirable workmanship, with deeply recessed loop-holes.

The upper ward, in which the modern improvements have been effected, is formed, on the north of the state apartments, on the east and south by the rooms occupied by her Majesty and the royal household, and on the west by the Round Tower. The part of the fabric of which we are treating is now completed. The whole of it has been raised a story, besides an additional height which has been given it by lowering the surface of the area six, and in some places eight, feet. Many parts have also been rebuilt, and Gothic windows substituted instead of those in the French style, which were introduced by Charles the Second. While the lowering of the area was in progress, some coins, and the supposed signet ring of Henry the Third, were discovered in the ground; nearly also in the centre of the ward the workmen found a curious circular excavation, about eighty feet deep; the descent to it was by a flight of stone steps, but nothing was discovered at the bottom except some rubbish, and a few bones of domestic animals.

Previously to the recent alterations at the Castle, its greatest drawback as a royal residence was the difficulty of access from one apartment to another. This has been completely surmounted by a corridor, five hundred and twenty feet in length, being introduced along the south and east sides of the court, by which means a general communication has been opened with the staircase and apartments in the different towers Nothing can exceed the effect of this beautiful gallery. The ceiling is richly adorned, while on each side are bronzes, marbles, pictures, the finest cabinets, and many other choice specimens of vertù. The collection of Canaletti's paintings in this corridor is supposed to be unequalled;

and among the busts are many of the principal personages whose names are celebrated in the three last reigns, and some of them great in history. But a full description of the several works would fill a volume. They were arranged under the immediate inspection of George the Fourth. The other apartments, which have been constructed for the use of the Royal Family and household, are three hundred and sixty-nine, on the east and south sides alone. These are all furnished with an appropriate splendour, and are well worthy the monarch of a great country. The ground floor, a part of which was accupied by George the Fourth, is now set apart for the officers of the establishment. There is one room which deserves a distinct notice, it is that in which George the Fourth and William the Fourth breathed their last; being not only one of the most cheerful apartments in the castle, but cerrainly one of the most beautiful. The gold-plate room should also be mentioned. Within it are to be found many beautiful and interesting cups. three of them having heen executed by Benvenuto Cellini, and also much antique and modern plate of the finest description. Here, too, is the celebrated peacock covered with jewels, valued at thirty thousand pounds, and the golden tiger's-head taken at Seringapatam.

The facility of communication now with Windsor, by railroad, brings so many persons to view the venerable and imposing scene, that in this brief account regard has been had to the more informing and useful, as well as the more general and striking points. Accordingly we have to mention, that admission to the state apartments, or that suite of rooms to which strangers are allowed access, is obtained by a door at the north-west angle of the upper ward or quadrangle. The fine collection of pictures with which these rooms are decorated, was chiefly made by Charles the Second, the original collection having been sold and dispersed in the time of the Commonwealth. George the Third also made several very valuable additions. But it is impossible in this sketch to convey any just notion of the number or of the value of the paintings and the other works of art which adorn the almost endless compartments of this seat of royalty, with all its extensive and multifarious accompaniments and ramifications of office, wealth, aad dignity, which arrest the eye of the visitor.

And yet there are a vast number of objects and particulars to which the public cannot obtain access. In passing through the state apartments, for instance, there may be mentioned, as things not generally seen, the Queen's library, comprising a part of Queen Elizabeth's apartment, which consists of three rooms, filled with books, same of them extremely rare and curious. The cieling of one of the rooms is most elaborately worked, and there is a curious Elizabethan mantel-piece, with a bust of that Queen in the centre of it. There is also a print-room at a short distance from the library, said to contain a collection of drawings and engravings which have been valued at thirty thousand pounds.

The grand staircase, with the guard-room at the top of it, are perhaps amongst the happiest efforts of Sir Jeffery Wyatville's genius. The former is adorned by a magnificent statue of George the Fourth, by Chantrey, and certainly one of the finest specimens he has executed. The marble is reported to have cost seven hundred pounds in the quarry in Italy.

Again, accompanying Mr. Jesse in his "Summer's Day at Windsor," we shall enter the choir of St. George's Chapel, were it but in order for a moment to moralize, Here, what an imposing sight bursts upon the view! Over the stalls, on each side, hang the motionless banners of the Knights of the Garter; and beneath these again are the mantle, helmet, sword, and crest of their respective owners. In addition to this, may be mentioned the marble floor. the rich and minutely detailed carving of the stalls and ceiling, the airy lightness of the building itself, and the splendid furniture of the altar. We must remember, now, that we stand upon the very spot where the greatest warriors and statesman have stood before us; that here every king of England, from Edward the Third, has offered up his adorations; that we tread upon the dust of princes; and that thousands of the great and powerful, who once mingled here in the glittering pageant, are now mouldering beneath our feet. What an emblem have we before our eyes of the vanity of human ambition! A warrior or a statesman dies, his banner is lowered from the walls, and before it is replaced by that of another, he has become unlamented, and perhaps forgotten.

The sovereign's stall is immediately on the right us you enter the chove, and the prince's on the left. On the north side of the choir, close to the altar, is the Queen's closet; and immediately underneath it is the tomb of Edward the Fourth, a beautiful work of art in hammered steel, executed by Quintin Metsys.

Among the numberless remarkable objects and interesting features belonging to Windsor Castle, let us last of all take particular notice of the terrace, the only entrance to which, except on Saturday and Sundays, by which a stranger can obtain admission, being by a postern gate on the east side of Winchestea Towers where the fine prospect, for which it is so celebrated, at once bursts upon the view. This superb walk, which is perhaps unrivalled, was originally raised by Elizabeth on the north side of the castle alone. It was afterwards extended by Charles the Second along the cast and south sides, its whole extent, when completed by that prince, being 1876 foet. It was then faced with free stone and covered with gravel. The terrace belonging to the Grand Seignior's Seraglio, looking on the sea, at Constantinople, is said to be the nearest, though not equal to it, in beauty and extent. Queen Elizabeth is stated to have walked here an hour every day, whenever the weather permitted. "We almost fancy her," observes Mr. Jesse, "in the costume in which she is described in her pictures, her favourite book of prayer (which was bound in solid gold) suspended to her

girdle by a golden chain, while she herself was engaged with the grave Burleigh in planning new schemes for the good of her subjects, or whiling away her time in more sprightly converse with the courtly Leicester, or the unfortunate Essex' The terrace was a favourite walk also of the ill-fated Charles, and of his voluptuous son; of Cromwell, and of the Third George.

And what shall be said of the environs of the castle in shorter and more sug gestive, than poetic phrase?

"Thy forests, Windsor, and thy green retreats,

Peace, says Cicero, must be everlastingly lovely in the eyes of good men, and if it is hated by bad ones, is the more on that account, to be recommended.

Cræsus, king of Lydia, whose wisdom saved his life, after fortune had stripped him of his empire, gave as a reason for preferring peace to war, "Because in it parents are buried by their children, whereas in war, children are buried by their parents, and peace makes even the fields and houses glad."

Holingshed that honest and amusing Chronicler, relates the following anecdote of Richard Cœur de Lion. While Richard sojourned in France during his war with Philip, there came to him a French priest, named Fulco, who with the freedom at that time tolerated in ministers of the Church, admonished the king to put away his three abominable daughters, and commit them to marriage, but God punished him on this account. "Thou lyest hypocrite (Richard replied) to thy very face." The priest retorted, "I lie not, for thou hast three abominable daughters, one of them is callad Pride, another Covetousness, and the third Lust." With that, the king called unto him his lords and barons, and said unto them, "This hypocrite here, requires me to marry forth my three daughters which he saith I cherish and maintain, viz. Pride, Covetousness, and Lust, and now that I have found husbands for them, I will do it with effect and seek no more delay. I therefore, bequeath my Pride, to the high minded Templars and Hospitaliers, who are as proud as Lucifer himself. My Covetousness I give to the White Friars, otherwise called the Cisteaux Order, for they covet the devil and all. My Lust I commit to the Prelates of the Church, who have most pleasure and fidelity therein.

THE GRAND-DAUGHTER'S PRESENT.

"See! grandma! see! what blooming flowers I bring to deck your room,
Say, will you take them from my hand, in all their fresh'ning bloom?
Do take your little fav'rite's gift-her well-watch'd little store-
And when my garden blooms again I'll bring you, grandma, more.

"I knew not aught, this sunny morn, would please you half so well-
Behold the ruddy rose, and mark the lily's lovely bell,

The violet, too, that blushing flower, so modest, yet so sweet-—
I knew no present, grandma dear! that could be half so meet.”

And how did Emma's grandmama receive her little child?
In truth it was a pleasant sight to see her as she smiled;

To hear the soft and loving words that from her bosom broke,
As to her tiny favourite the lady kindly spoke.

"Now, bless thee! oh! my little one, that thou dost bring to me,
The semblance sweet of days gone by, which I no more shall see;
No never, Emma! in this life, may I the scenes renew,

When, like those flowers, in youth and grace, an infant fair I grew.

"But thee! my flower of flowers! for thee the season now is fair,
The sun is bright upon thy brow, and balmy is the air;
And every blushing sweet apace comes ripening into day,
To form a wreath as fragrant and as radiant as the May!

"Now, list, my love! whilst, in those flowers, thy likeness fair I trace,
And show thee that their brightest tints are blended in thy face:
The rose thy little cheeks can make, even in its brightest hue,
And on thy brow the lily fair presents its semblance true;

"The violet speaks of constancy-and that, methinks, I see,
My modest maiden, fair and true, an opening flower in thee,
Which, as thy glowing years come on, may e'en outvie the rose,
The sweeter and lovelier still, the longer still it grows!

"Now, scan thy floral mirror well, and tell me, ere we part,
If thou hast laid this lesson up within thy little heart;
And if, in after blooming years, thou 'lt think on what I've said,
When I, perchance, may not be nigh!-my blooming, graceful maid!"

The infant blushed, and looked as if the likeness all were true,

In vernal sense, in fragrance fair, and in each brilliant hue;
And, smilling in her grandma's face, with unassuming glee,
Said, "Maiden, woman, grandma! all-I will be good to thee !"

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Simonides, the ancient Philosopher, being asked by what rule two friends might persevere in their friendship, replied, "They must never be angry both at the same time."