upper ward after
the restoration of Charles the Second. It now forms the library. A large
garden was laid out by the same queen, and a small gateway on Castle
Hill built by her--which afterwards became one of the greatest
obstructions to the approach, and it was taken down by George the
Fourth.

Elizabeth often hunted in the parks, and exhibited her skill in archery,
which was by no means inconsiderable, at the butts. Her fondness for
dramatic performances likewise induced her to erect a stage within
the castle, on which plays and interludes were performed. And to her
admiration of the character of Falstaff, and her love of the locality,
the world is indebted for the "Merry Wives of Windsor."

James the First favoured Windsor as much as his predecessors; caroused
within its halls, and chased the deer in its parks; Christian the Fourth
of Denmark was sumptuously entertained by him at Windsor. In this reign
a curious dispute occurred between the king and the dean and chapter
respecting the repair of a breach in the wall, which was not brought
to issue for three years, when, after much argument, it was decided in
favour of the clergy.

Little was done at Windsor by Charles the First until the tenth year of
his reign, when a banqueting-house erected by Elizabeth was taken down,
and the magnificent fountain constructed by Queen Mary demolished. Two
years after wards "a pyramid or lantern," with a clock, hell, and dial,
was ordered to be set up in front of the castle, and a balcony was
erected before the room where Henry the Sixth was born.

In the early part of the year 1642 Charles retired to Windsor to
shield himself from the insults of the populace, and was followed by a
committee of the House of Commons, who prevailed upon him to desist from
the prosecution of the impeached members. On the 23rd of October in
the same year, Captain Fogg, at the head of a Parliamentarian force,
demanded the keys of the college treasury, and, not being able to obtain
them, forced open the doors, and carried off the whole of the plate.

The plunder of the college was completed by Vane, the Parliamentary
governor of the castle, who seized upon the whole of the furniture and
decorations of the choir, rifled the tomb of Edward the Fourth,
stripped off all the costly ornaments from Wolsey's tomb, defaced the
emblazonings over Henry the Sixth's grave, broke the rich painted glass
of the windows, and wantonly destroyed the exquisite woodwork