Then Came Two Others,
One With The Rod Again, The Other With A Salt-Cellar, A Plate, And
Bread; When They Had Kneeled As The Others Had Done, And Placed What
Was Brought Upon The Table, They Too Retired With The Same
Ceremonies Performed By The First.
At last came an unmarried lady
(we were told she was a countess), and along with her a married
One,
bearing a tasting-knife; the former was dressed in white silk, who,
when she had prostrated herself three times in the most graceful
manner, approached the table and rubbed the plates with bread and
salt with as much awe as if the Queen had been present. When they
had waited there a little while, the yeomen of the guards entered,
bareheaded, clothed in scarlet, with a golden rose upon their backs,
bringing in at each turn a course of twenty-four dishes, served in
plate, most of it gilt; these dishes were received by a gentleman in
the same order they were brought, and placed upon the table, while
the lady taster gave to each of the guard a mouthful to eat of the
particular dish he had brought, for fear of any poison. During the
time that this guard, which consists of the tallest and stoutest men
that can be found in all England, being carefully selected for this
service, were bringing dinner, twelve trumpets and two kettledrums
made the hall ring for half an hour together. At the end of all
this ceremonial, a number of unmarried ladies appeared, who, with
particular solemnity, lifted the meat off the table, and conveyed it
into the Queen's inner and more private chamber, where, after she
had chosen for herself, the rest goes to the ladies of the Court.
The Queen dines and sups alone with very few attendants, and it is
very seldom that anybody, foreigner or native, is admitted at that
time, and then only at the intercession of somebody in power.
Near this palace is the Queen's park, stocked with deer. Such parks
are common throughout England, belonging to those that are
distinguished either for their rank or riches. In the middle of
this is an old square tower, called Mirefleur, supposed to be that
mentioned in the romance of "Amadis de Gaul;" and joining to it a
plain, where knights and other gentlemen use to meet, at set times
and holidays, to exercise on horseback.
We left London in a coach, in order to see the remarkable places in
its neighbourhood.
The first was Theobalds, belonging to Lord Burleigh, the Treasurer.
In the gallery was painted the genealogy of the Kings of England;
from this place one goes into the garden, encompassed with a ditch
full of water, large enough for one to have the pleasure of going in
a boat and rowing between the shrubs; here are great variety of
trees and plants, labyrinths made with a great deal of labour, a JET
D'EAU, with its basin of white marble, and columns and pyramids of
wood and other materials up and down the garden. After seeing
these, we were led by the gardener into the summer-house, in the
lower part of which, built semicircularly, are the twelve Roman
emperors in white marble, and a table of touchstone; the upper part
of it is set round with cisterns of lead, into which the water is
conveyed through pipes, so that fish may be kept in them, and in
summer-time they are very convenient for bathing. In another room
for entertainment, very near this, and joined to it by a little
bridge, was an oval table of red marble. We were not admitted to
see the apartments of this palace, there being nobody to show it, as
the family was in town, attending the funeral of their lord. {10}
Hoddesdon, a village.
Ware, a market town.
Puckeridge, a village; this was the first place where we observed
that the beds at inns were made by the waiters.
Camboritum, Cantabrigium and Cantabrigia, now called Cambridge, a
celebrated town, so named from the river Cam, which after washing
the western side, playing through islands, turns to the east, and
divides the town into two parts, which are joined by a bridge,
whence its modern name - formerly it had the Saxon one of
Grantbridge. Beyond this bridge is an ancient and large castle,
said to be built by the Danes: on this side, where far the greater
part of the town stands, all is splendid; the streets fine, the
churches numerous, and those seats of the Muses, the colleges, most
beautiful; in these a great number of learned men are supported, and
the studies of all polite sciences and languages flourish.
I think proper to mention some few things about the foundation of
this University and its colleges. Cantaber, a Spaniard, is thought
to have first instituted this academy 375 years before Christ, and
Sebert, King of the East Angles, to have restored it A.D. 630. It
was afterwards subverted in the confusion under the Danes, and lay
long neglected, till upon the Norman Conquest everything began to
brighten up again: from that time inns and halls for the convenient
lodging of students began to be built, but without any revenues
annexed to them.
The first college, called Peter House, was built and endowed by Hugh
Balsam, Bishop of Ely, A.D. 1280; and, in imitation of him, Richard
Badew, with the assistance of Elizabeth Burke, Countess of Clare and
Ulster, founded Clare Hall in 1326; Mary de St. Paul, Countess of
Pembroke, Pembroke Hall in 1343; the Monks of Corpus Christi, the
college of the same name, though it has besides that of Bennet; John
Craudene, Trinity Hall, 1354; Edmond Gonville, in 1348, and John
Caius, a physician in our times, Gonville and Caius College; King
Henry VI., King's College, in 1441, adding to it a chapel that may
justly claim a place among the most beautiful buildings in the
world.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 9 of 34
Words from 8172 to 9172
of 35052
