ELTHAM UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND.

King John of France, with banquets, balls, and tournaments, and he here held several parliaments. But Eltham had not reached the period of its magnificence till the reign of the young King Richard the Second. Holinshed, the chronicler, tells us that he "maintained the most plentiful house that ever any king in England did, either before his day or since, for there resorted daily to his court above ten thousand persons that had meat and drinke there allowed them. In his kitchen there were three hundred servitors, and every other office was furnished after the like rate; of ladies, chamberers, and larderers, there were above three hundred at the least, and in precious and in costlie apparell they exceeded all measure. Yeomen and groomes were clothed in silks, with cloth of graine and scarlet, over-sumptuous ye may be sure for their estates."

Let us bring before our mind's eye one of those festive scenes which, during the reign of the second Richard, were of almost daily occurrence within this hall, ere the Palace of Eltham had fallen from its proud and magnificent position, as the favourite residence of a race of kings. First, however, let us remove the present rude supports of the light and elegant pendent roof, and restore to its original splendour the exquisite stone tracery of the large bay windows at the upper end of the apartment. These with the windows ranged on either side must literally dazzle the eyes with a gorgeous display of painted glass of varying hues. The bare and dilapidated walls by the same necromancy of imagination must be hung with rich tapestry, above which should appear suspended the spoils of battle and the chase, whilst in the orchestra, over the renovated screen, a numerous band of musicians at the same time fill the air with martial strains.

"At the upper end is the dais, with the chair placed for the monarch; on either side runs a long table spread for the guestsrude ornaments, gaily painted, adorn the board, with here and there costly pieces of gold and silver plate, saltcellars, cups, bowls with covers, chargers, spice plates, large covered vessels, splendidly chased, and ornamented with eagles, herons, and leopards. The guests enter, the monarch leads the way, and takes his place at the upper end. Numerous dishes, displaying no small advance in the art of cookery, are brought in by trains of servants, and solemnly

ROYAL ENTERTAINMENTS IN THE 15TH AND 16TH CENTURIES.

set upon the tables; the varied viands are intermixed and succeeded by flagons of wine, hippocrass, and claret. Gaily do the guests quaff the cup, and indulge the wassail. And, between the peals of boisterous merriment, the soft tones of the harp fall on the ear, strung by the gaily dressed minstrel, and accompanied now and then by songs, instinct with the soul of chivalry. Nor are the flute, the pipe, and the tabor wanting occasionally to mingle their sweet strange music, which rises, and swells, and floats in streams of melody around the lofty hall." *

When Richard held his court at Eltham he was visited by Leo, King of Armenia, whom the Tartars had driven from his country, and the same profusion which characterised Richard's extraordinary entertainments of state was apparent at the reception of the deposed Christian prince. On one occasion the English King presented his guest with a golden ship, containing one thousand pounds in money, and letters patent for a yearly pension of a like amount during the remainder of his life. But Richard's course of reckless prodigality was destined speedily to terminate, and Henry the Fourth soon installed himself in the favourite palace of his nephew. It was here, in 1405, that Henry celebrated his Christmas with the usual festivities, though his mirth was somewhat damped by a report that the Duke of York contemplated taking the opportunity afforded by these rejoicings, which put men off their guard, to scale the palace walls and attempt his life. Eltham continued a royal residence through succeeding reigns, each more or less distinguished by the magnificence of its state assemblages. By Edward the Fourth-he who reared the magnificent chapel of St. George at Windsor-the present great hall is supposed to have been partially built. Of his immediate successors, connected with their residence at Eltham, history is silent

"Finding some of Edward's race Unhappy, pass their annals by."

Henry the Seventh made some further additions, but his heart was set upon the palace at Greenwich, which he new-fronted towards the river-side, and chose for his usual summer residence. From this time the fall of Eltham may be dated. Although Henry the Eighth held a court here one Whitsuntide, when he raised Sir Edward Stanley to the peerage for his good services * "Windsor in the Fourteenth Century."

NEGLECT OF THE PALACE-ITS FINAL DESTRUCTION.

against the Scots, at the desperate fight of Flodden Field, and in the same year retired to Eltham, there to spend his "stil Christmasse," in dread of the plague then raging in London, yet it was at Greenwich first, and afterwards at Hampton Court, that the wife-slaying monarch passed most of his days. The abandonment of the old palace was soon followed up by its neglect, and until the parliament reigned triumphant in its struggle with Charles, no thought was bestowed on its condition. It was then its fate to be surveyed, and sold for the value of the mere building materials. The thousands of fine trees that studded its magnificent park were gradually felled; the best among them went to the neighbouring dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford, and Sir Thomas Walsingham obtained a grant of the remainder at the Restoration. He used the ing a hand as to call time, "that he had not enough whereupon he

Our gossiping tale is homeward course we often at the venerable pile, the for most glorious as also of our in its course, like a river be and whilst contemplating serted and silent hall we feel cheats us with the semblance past.

axe with so unsparforth the remark at the left a tree standing large might have hung himself." done: yet as we follow our halt to take a lingering look mer home of many of our most unhappy kings. Time tween banks, has its eddies, such scenes as Eltham's dethe retrograde current that of a return to ages that are

"These heaps of stones, these old walls which ge see,
Were first enclosures but of salvage soyle,

And these brave pallaces, which maystred be
Of time, were shepheards' cottages somewhile."

WOOLWICH-THE DOCKYARD-ARSENAL-ROTUNDA, &c.

To Woolwich next, where noble ships have birth,
And war's dread engines slumbering lie in store,
Ready to desolate this peaceful earth,

Plucking red laurels from a field of gore.

T will be unnecessary for us, on the occasion of our excursion to Woolwich-the naval and military station of the metropolis-to enter upon a description of the various ob- " jects noticeable on the trip down the river, for with this busy portion of our favourite Thames previous journeys have made us sufficiently familiar. The stoppage at Charlton Pier, where some few passengers

HENRY VIZETELLY.

WOOLWICH FROM THE RIVER-ITS EARLY CONDITION.

step ashore, reminds us that the reach is passed, and our attention is at once directed to the characteristic features of Woolwich, as seen from the river. The long lines of walls, the close-pressed tide gates, with the bows of many a noble vessel towering proudly over them from their docks, like sea-monarchs on their thrones, looking down in scorn on the river waves; the high heaps of timber; the hugecoiled cables; the church-tower in the background; the heavy lighters crowded along the shore; the light, raking craft, with pennants long-streaming in the wind; the well-manned boats, pulled hither and thither by sturdy hands, with an occasional portly form and cocked hat in the stern-sheets; the sun glittering with a playful brightness on the many eye-like windows that break the monotony of what otherwise would look like slate-roofed barns belonging to some giant farm-house; the gloomy hulks moored along the shore, with the waters dashing sullenly against the chains that hold them; -all tell us that we are sweeping by that ancient dockyard, and those famous ship-building slips, where England stores the lightning and forges the thunderbolts which have enabled her to acquire and keep the rule of the main.

We coast along almost one mile of the dock-yard, and are right upon Woolwich, whose "ancient and fish-like smell" speaks of the original small fishing village, unnoticed and unmentioned by Kentish historians; from which it has spread, or, rather, sprawled itself out into the large, long town of straggling streets which lies before us. Who would think, to look upon the mass of red-brick houses piled upwards from the shore upon each other; to note the twenty-two thousand inhabitants of Woolwich; its garrison of three thousand men, horse and foot; its four thousand dockyard artisans; its arsenal, barracks, and military repository;who, we say, would think of this town and land, as having at one time been recorded as of the value of three pounds? Yet such is the fact. Hulviz, Woollewic, or Woolwich, is set down in Doomsday Book as the manor of Haimo the Sheriff. "The said Haimo," says that record, "holds sixty-three acres of land, which William the Fowler held of King Edward. There are in this estate four bordars, who pay a rent of forty-one pence. The whole value is three pounds." Such was the old fishing village of Woolwich. Yet many centuries had not elapsed before it was