Hampton

an English village situated on the Thames, a few miles above West-minister Abbey. It may be reached by rail, or by one of the numerous wherries plying on the river. The village is noted as the seat of Hampton Court, a royal residence built by Cardinal Wolsey for his own use, but subsequently presented to Henry VIII. It was the favorite residence of James I. The order to make the translation known as King James' Bible was given here. The buildings are of red brick with battlemented walls. Since the time of George II the king has ceased to reside there. The buildings are used for various purposes. A score or two of rooms in suites, seemingly acres in extent, are devoted to galleries of paintings and antiquities. A portrait of the cardinal hangs in the great hall. The latter is over 100 feet in length, with other dimensions to correspond. The visitor is much more interested in the grounds, however. The garden in front of the palace is laid out in flower beds and shady avenues. A grapevine of the black Hamburg variety, planted in 1769, has attained an immense size. The stem is over a foot in diameter and presents a mass of foliage over 100 feet in height. In productive years as many as 2,500 bunches of fine grapes have been obtained from this vine. In the so-called wilderness adjacent, there is a noted maze or labyrinth. It consists of a neatly kept hedge about twice as high as a man. Although not exceeding half an acre in are the hedge has so many windings, lanes, and deceptive gaps, that, even though one knows the way, it requires several minutes of rapid walking to reach a plot of grass at the center. The glory of Hampton, however, is a royal park of about 11,000 acres. It is planted with white thorn, limes, and horse-chestnuts. In June or toward the end of May, when the latter are in full blossom, the display of bloom is unequaled, it is said, in Europe. Every spring the newspapers announce the fact that the chestnuts of Hampton are in blossom. At this season thousands and thousands of people go out to wander through the park. See Maze