| A Description of the Building.
" 'The edifice was founded, not on the ruins of a Royal
palace, but has by gradual steps grown out of one, till it
has eclipsed, both in extent and actual magnificence, many
of those at present existing, and which are now occupied by
Royal or Imperial tenants.' Hunter's " History of London and its Environs," 4to., vol. ii., p. 156.
No fewer than four of our
English sovereigns were born in the palace which stood on
its site-viz., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. It was the favourite abode of the first and last of
these monarchs. From about the year 1300, for nearly
400 years, it was the scene of Royal magnificence and
courtly splendour. The last of our kings who inhabited
Greenwich was Charles I. It was subsequently occasionally
visited by the Protector, and after him by Charles II., who
resolved to restore it from the decay into which it had then
fallen with superior grandeur, and who completed the resto-
ration of one wing of the palace. No further progress was
made in its restoration till the reign of William III., whose
Queen, Mary, is said to have suggested to him the idea of
making it an asylum for the aged and disabled seamen of the
Royal Navy; and it was at length determined, upon the
recommendation of Sir Christopher Wren, that the unfinished
palace should be enlarged and adapted to this charitable
purpose. The property was forthwith vested in the hands
of trustees, and commissioners appointed. The King con-
tributed the sum of 2,0001., the commissioners nearly 8,0001.,
and Sir Christopher engaged to superintend the work without
pecuniary emolument. The foundation of the present Hos-
pital was laid A.D. 1696, and an Act of Parliament was
passed in the same year, by which 6d. per month of the
wages of all seamen belonging to the Royal Navy is appro-
priated to the benefit of the Institution. Since that time
large sums have been contributed to the Hospital by bene-
volent individuals, and forfeited estates transferred to it, of
which the estate of the unfortunate Earl of Derwentwater is
the most considerable. The buildings have been successively
enlarged and improved, and the present annual income of
the Hospital is about 90,0001. Hunter has well observed,
'The idea of lodging the veterans of the British Navy in
a palace seems worthy of the dignity of the first maritime
power in the world; and the whole establishment, by the
rank and number of its officers and directors, fills the mind
with an appropriate greatness of character.' To this, how-
ever, he was led to add, probably with some measure of
truth, 'Yet it may be questioned whether the real comfort
of the persons to whose use it is devoted might not have
been better consulted by a greater attention to convenience
and accommodation, and a less regard to splendour.'"
