Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

RIVER FRONT 213
Doubtless they sat in some stately parlour looking
upon the gardens, where the work of homely Queen
Mary adorned the couches, and the ceiling displayed
thegenius ofSignor Verrio or Sir James Thornhill. A
game of ombre beguiles the afternoon, and all goes
happily till
"On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate."
Belinda triumphs and
"exultingfills with shouts the sky.
The walls, the woods,andlongcanals reply."
Coffee relieves their excited feelings and inspires the
Baron to a dauntless deed. The sylphs in vain interpose
to check the robber or rouse the thoughtless
fair. He draws nearer with the glitt'ring Forfex;
her looks remain fixed on her coffee-cup of rich " china
earth," or on the long expanse of garden, canal, and
wood. In a moment the crime is committed, and
the severed lock is in the hands of the victor. As
for the " wretched maid," she
" spreadher hands andcry'd,
While Hampton's echoes, wretched maid! reply'd."
The Palace itself is cursed by her tragic misfortune,
and only an apotheosis of the lock can satisfy the
maiden and poetic justice alike.
It is impossible to pass up the Thames to the
river front, which Mr. Railton has so charmingly
imaged, without memories of Pope's lines. Hampton