Ten miles north of Oxford is Woodstock, near which is Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough.  This great estate and imposing mansion was presented by Act of Parliament to the first Duke of Marlborough in recognition of the victory which he won over the French at Blenheim.  The architect who prepared the plans for the great structure was the famous Sir John Vanbrugh, who was so noted for the generally low heavy effect of his creations.  While he was still alive a wit proposed a satirical epitaph in the couplet,

    “Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he
    Laid many a heavy load on thee.”

So enormous was the cost of the palace and estate that the half million pounds sterling voted by parliament was not sufficient and more than sixty thousand pounds of the great Duke’s private fortune went into it as well.  In his fondness for state and display, he was quite the opposite of the other great national hero, the Duke of Wellington, who was satisfied with the greatest simplicity and preferred cash to expensive palaces and great estates.  As a consequence, the Dukes of Marlborough have been land-poor for several generations and until recently Blenheim Palace seemed in a fair way to be added to the already long list of ruins in Britain.  Something has lately been done in the way of repair and restoration, but there are many evidences of decay still apparent.

[Illustration:  Ringwood church.]

Blenheim Palace has been shorn of many of its treasures, among them the great Sunderland Library of 80,000 volumes, sold at auction some years ago.  Many valuable objects of art still remain, especially family portraits by nearly every great artist from Gainsborough to Sargent, and there is much fine statuary.  The tapestries, in the state rooms, illustrating the achievements of the first Duke, are especially remarkable and were made in Belgium under his directions.  But from the English view-point, no doubt the original documents pertaining to the Duke are most notable; among these is the modest note which he addressed to Queen Anne from Blenheim, announcing his “famous victory.”

The park is one of the largest in England, but it showed many evidences of neglect and slovenly care.  Some of the worst looking cattle I saw in England obstructed the ornamental stone bridge that crosses the stream flowing into a large artificial lake within the park.  The driveways were not kept in the perfect manner that is characteristic of the English private park.  Despite these evidences of neglect, the beauty of the place was little impaired.  There are some of the finest oak trees in England and down by the lake are groups of magnificent cedars through whose branches the bright water shimmered in the sunshine.  As we circled about the park, the distant views of the palace well bore out its reputation of being one of the stateliest private homes in the Kingdom.  Our guide pointed out the spot where once stood the manor-house of Woodstock, torn down about a hundred years ago.  In this house Princess Elizabeth was held a prisoner for a time by her sister, Queen Mary, but it is best known from the story of Walter Scott, who located here the principal scenes of “Woodstock.”