The Queen, too, until the great grief of her life fell upon her, was a pretty constant visitor to the Park--in her younger days on horseback; and who has not seen the Princess of Wales and her children there? Although, as Captain Gronow justly observes, the frequenters of the Park are not so aristocratic as they used to be, and society generally is much more mixed. [Illustration: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. Page 64. ] [Illustration: A SPRING IN THE PARK, 1794. Page 65. ] [Illustration: decorative bar] CHAPTER VIII. The springs in Hyde Park--Used as water supply for Westminster--Horses in the Park--The Westbourne--Making the Serpentine--The “Naumachia” thereon--Satires about it--The Jubilee Fair. Hyde Park has several springs of water, one of which was said to have been slightly mineral. The one shown in this illustration still exists, and the author of “The Morning Walk” thus eulogizes one:-- “But let my footsteps first pursue their course To yon clear fountain, hid in shady grove, And quaff the clear salubrious crystal brook, Emblem of purity! when innocence Partakes, and all the wakened sense restores. O blessed _Jordan_! at thy limpid stream, Gladly I mingle with the cheerful throng, And drink the cup, and then renew my walk, With strengthen’d nerves, down the delightful shade.” Some of these springs were utilized for the supply of water outside the Park--but the larger quantity came from the Westbourne. Still, in 1620, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster had permission given them to use the water of four springs in Hyde Park for their benefit, and letters patent were granted to “Thomas Day, Gent. of Chelsea, to enable him to take the water from Hyde Park to the City of Westminster.” This, I take it, meant to utilize the Westbourne, as the Dean and Chapter had the springs: but both their privileges were annulled by the King’s Bench, as it was alleged that the ponds in the Park were, by these means, so drained that there was not enough water left for the wants of the King’s deer. In the time of James I. there were eleven pools in the Park, and a glance at Roque’s map of 1747 will show that many were then still remaining; indeed, in the accompanying illustration of the Bathing House in 1794, we see a horse drinking at one of them. By this, we see that horses were turned out to grass in the Park. In 1751, grooms used to exercise their horses there, as did also a riding master named Faubert. “See, too, the jolly courser, with his groom, Expert, not like to him who _Persia’s_ crown Obtained, yet skill’d with upright crest and arm, Compacted knee, to give the rein and bitt Their motion due, his flight retarding not. ---- Next _Faubert_ view with graces of menage, And troops of horse in strictest motion wheel.”