XI. THE OLDEST ESSEX BOROUGH.

One of the famous books of the last generation was that of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque¹.  If the Doctor had extended his journey as far as Maldon, in Essex, he would have been well rewarded for his pains.  Essex can boast of two towns set upon a hill.  One is Colchester, the other is Maldon; but as regards picturesqueness², Maldon bears away the palm.  Everywhere you have a fine view of the country—on one side the Chelmer reaching away to Chelmsford, on the other the Blackwater making its winding³ way to the German Ocean.  At one time this Blackwater was a source of trouble, as by means of it the Danes used to sail up, as it were, into the very bowels⁴ of the land, murdering, and plundering⁵, and ravishing, and pillaging⁶ everywhere.  There is no fear of that now; it is a thing of the past.  Said a friend of mine the other day, as we stood admiring the peaceful prospect⁷ lying at our feet, “from my bedroom window I can see eight churches,” and, strict Noncon. as he is, I fancy the sight is pleasanter to him than that of Danish pirates landing from their ships to carry terror and devastation⁸ all over the land.  Maldon claims to be the oldest borough⁹ in Essex, and to have a history, if rather a dull one.  Up to the time of the last Reform Bill it returned two members, and as a matter of fact, the candidate who bribed¹⁰ most freely was the winning man.  p. 64Now-a-days it is only at an election that the passions of the people are aroused.  There is a rector who preaches in an ancient church, there is a Congregational chapel¹¹, which I am told is in a flourishing condition; there are Baptists and Wesleyans, and all work together pleasantly excepting when an election ensues.  Then the people are aroused, and bad passions come into play, and friends quarrel never to be friendly again, although the cynical¹² observer might exclaim—

    Strange such difference there should be
    ’Twixt tweedledum and tweedledee.

There was a time when it was otherwise.  For instance, in the reign¹³ of Queen Elizabeth, we find the Maldon electors petitioning their representatives on their sufferings from Prelatic parsons.  “They are crueller,” so they affirm, “than the ostriches¹⁴ of the wilderness¹⁵, and more unkind than the dragons.”  They ask to be relieved of the teaching of ungodly men such as have been “Popish priests, taylors, fletchers, serving-men, wheelwrights, and many of these alehouse haunters, dicers, quarrellers, whoremongers, and full of gross sins.”  Moved by this and similar appeals, the friends of the Puritans in the House of Commons endeavoured to obtain them some relief, but in vain—the Queen and her Bishops¹⁶ were of quite another way of thinking.  For taking their part the Maldon M.P. was committed to the Tower.  Matters became worse rather than better under James I., and it was not till the Civil War that a Commission was formed by Parliament for the purpose of investigating complaints against the existing ministry¹⁷; and of that Commission Sir Henry Mildmay, M.P., for Maldon, was one.  Essex was full of Puritan divines.  One of these was Thomas Horrocks, the rector of Maldon, where, says Calamy, he was “a diligent¹⁸ and powerful preacher twelve years together, and was an instrument for converting many souls.”  After his ejectment he continued to preach, and was at length cast into the dungeon¹⁹ of the town, where he lay ten days.  A court being held in the town, he was accused of all sorts of crimes, and p. 65called by some of the aldermen heretic, schismatic, and traitor²⁰; and when he was pleading for himself, one of them rose from the bench and gave him a box on the ear, and beat off his satin cap.  At the time of the Revolution Mr. Joseph Billio came to Maldon to gather together under his ministry those whom Mr. Horrocks had prepared for separation.  On the site of the present meeting-house, one was erected²² to hold four hundred persons.  When Mr. Billio was succeeded by a minister of Unitarian sentiments, there was a split in the congregation, and a small place of worship was erected elsewhere.  In 1778 the congregation returned to their old place of worship.  In 1801 a new place of worship was erected on the site of the old one, which had now become insufficient²³.  It is there the present minister, the Rev²¹. H. H. Carlisle, preaches.  The place will hold eight hundred hearers, and is well attended.  Attached to it is a fine modern lecture-hall and day-schools, which are well filled.  I was particularly struck with the bright and happy appearance of the boys and girls being trained there to become men and women.  With such training the old joke about Essex calves²⁴ undoubtedly²⁵ will lose a good deal of its point and power.

A very quiet place is Maldon—at one time a great centre of the corn trade, which, in consequence of railways, has shifted elsewhere—and which the Great Eastern Railway has brought within an hour and a half’s ride of London.  The population is about six thousand, and, by the last census²⁶, it seems slightly to have declined.  In the Town Hall are portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Anne, Charles II. and George III., and Dr. Plume²⁷, a Maldon celebrity²⁸, of whose career I have no particulars, save that he was a clergyman, and presented a library of over 6,000 volumes to the town.  It is open daily from 10 till 12.  The great artist, J. R. Herbert, R.A., was a native of the place, and Landseer studied there in his early days.  Its chief claim to fame seems to have been that it was the birthplace of Edward Bright, a shopkeeper in the town, who died in 1750, and was so enormously fat that he weighed about 616 lbs. p. 66and seven men were on one occasion buttoned in his waistcoat without breaking a stitch or straining a button.

Remains²⁹ around Maldon testify to the antiquity³⁰ of the place.  On the west side are the remains of a camp formed by Edward the Elder as far back as 920.  Near the town are the remains of a Lepers’ Hospital, which makes one note with thankfulness that, thanks to sanitary³¹ science in England, we have no need of such buildings now, and we rejoice that the good old times are gone.  By the side of the river, about a mile from the town, are the remains of Beeleigh Abbey, founded for monks³² of the Premonstratensian order in 1180; considerable remains still exist, but have been much altered in the process of converting the building into a farmhouse³³, still there is a good deal remaining well worthy³⁴ the attention of the antiquary, though at one time the chapter-house, which has a fine groined roof, was used as a pig-sty.  In the Abbey was buried Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex, in 1483.  One of the Maldon churches has a triangular³⁵ tower.  It is said that only in Italy is there another tower of the same kind.  I may also state, as one of the peculiarities³⁶ of Maldon, that the custom of Borough English, by means of which the youngest son succeeds to the copyhold estates of his father, still prevails there.  Thus altogether a pleasant ancient flavour attaches to the place, in spite of its Reform Club, which dates from 1874.  One might do worse than live at Maldon, where good houses are to be had at a bargain, and where in the summer-time, far from the wicked world, there is a good deal of boating, and where in the winter time, in the coming glacial era, which Sir Robert Ball confidently predicts as reserved for the people of England, you may skate as far as Chelmsford, a consummation by no means devoutly³⁷ to be wished.  For bicycles Maldon is by no means favourable³⁸, incredible as it may seem to those who will persist in believing that Essex is a flat country.  There are two hills in the town, one of which is pronounced to be the most dangerous hill in all Essex for bicyclists.

The End

1 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

2 picturesqueness   

参考例句：

• The picturesqueness of the engineer's life was always attractive to Presley. 这司机的丰富多彩的生活，始终叫普瑞斯莱醉心。
• Philip liked the daring picturesqueness of the Americans'costume. 菲利浦喜欢美国人装束的那种粗犷的美。

3 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

4 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。

6 pillaging   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The rebels went looting and pillaging. 叛乱者趁火打劫，掠夺财物。
• Soldiers went on a rampage, pillaging stores and shooting. 士兵们横冲直撞，洗劫商店并且开枪射击。 来自辞典例句

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

10 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

12 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

13 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

14 ostriches   

n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者

参考例句：

• They are the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. 他们真是我闻所未闻的一群最傻的老鸵鸟。 来自辞典例句
• How ostriches could bear to run so hard in this heat I never succeed in understanding. 驼鸟在这样干燥炎热的地带为什么能疾速长跑，我永远也理解不了。 来自辞典例句

15 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

16 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

17 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

18 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

19 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。

20 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

21 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

22 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

23 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

24 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

26 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

27 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

28 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

29 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

30 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

31 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

32 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

34 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

35 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

36 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

37 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

38 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。